Short answer. No, not unilaterally. Once the thing and the price are agreed the contract binds both sides, and Article 1308 forbids leaving its validity or compliance to the will of one of them. A seller who simply changes his mind is in breach, and the buyer may demand performance or damages.

What the law says

The contract must bind both contracting parties; its validity or compliance cannot be left to the will of one of them.

Civil Code, Article 1308 — Mutuality of Contracts. Read the full provision →

Mutuality is the whole of Article 1308

The provision is one sentence: The contract must bind both contracting parties; its validity or compliance cannot be left to the will of one of them. This is the principle of mutuality, and it does two jobs. It stops a party from walking away from a concluded agreement simply because he now prefers not to be in it, and it invalidates clauses that hand one side the power to decide whether the contract holds at all. A stipulation letting a seller withdraw at his sole discretion, or fix the price afterwards as he sees fit, offends the same rule that stops him from repudiating outright.

The agreement, not the paperwork, is what he is bound to

A seller trying to escape usually says the sale was not final — no deed yet, no full payment, no transfer at the registry. That confuses performance with perfection. Under Article 1475 a contract of sale is perfected the moment there is a meeting of minds on the thing and on the price, and from that moment either party may demand performance from the other. Article 1315 makes the same point generally: contracts are perfected by mere consent, and bind the parties not only to what is expressly stipulated but also to all the consequences that follow from good faith, usage and law.

Only some exits are legitimate

Not every withdrawal is a breach. If the agreement was never perfected because the reply changed a term, if it is void, if the seller's consent was vitiated, or if the contract itself reserves a clearly agreed right to withdraw on stated conditions, then the seller may have a real defence. What is not a defence is a better offer, a rise in market value, or family objections arising after signature. Article 1159 puts it plainly enough in principle: obligations arising from contracts have the force of law between the parties and must be complied with in good faith.

What the buyer can actually ask for

Where the obligations are reciprocal, Article 1191 gives the injured party a choice between demanding fulfilment and rescinding, with damages in either case. Demanding fulfilment means asking the court to compel the seller to execute and deliver; rescinding means treating the contract as undone and recovering what was paid. Which is worth pursuing depends on facts the buyer often has not gathered yet: whether the property is still with the seller, whether anyone else has since acquired an interest in it, and what the buyer has already parted with.

Preserve the evidence of the agreement first

Whatever remedy you pursue, the case is won or lost on proof of what was agreed and when. Keep the signed document, the messages that settled the price, the receipts for anything paid, and any written communication in which the seller acknowledged the sale before he changed his mind. Then make your demand in writing and keep proof that it was sent, because in most obligations legal delay runs from demand rather than from the missed date. A lawyer assessing the claim will want those items before anything else.

Cases citing this provision

These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.