While
low
inventory,
high
prices
and
high

mortgage
rates
have
made
life
difficult
for
the
real
estate
industry,
investors
in
one
segment
—
home
flipping
—
are
seeing
better
returns.

Attom‘s
home-flipping
report
for
the
first
quarter
of
2024
shows
that
the
typical
gross
profit
for
investors
from
January
through
March
was
30.2%.
This
marked
the
third
time
in
four
quarters
that
profits
increased.
In
the
first
quarter
of
2023,
margins
were
at
a
decade
low
of
25%.

In
raw
dollars,
a
typical
flip
at
the
national
level
netted
$72,375
in
the
first
quarter
of
this
year.
That’s
up
from
$65,000
in
the
previous
quarter
and
closer
to
the
2022
peak
of
$80,000.

Fix-and-flippers
are
benefiting
from
rising
prices
and
affordability
issues
for
prospective
homeowners.
Flips
comprised
8.7%
of
all
U.S.
home
sales
in
the
first
quarter,
up
from
7.7%
in
the
previous
quarter.
But
the
number
was
down
from
9.8%
in
Q1
2023.

The
total
volume
of
flips
remains
drastically
below
the
peaks
of
2021,
although
they
are
in
line
with

pre-pandemic
volumes.
Still,
flippers
are
facing
the
same
headwinds
that
are
impacting
housing
markets
across
the
country.

“The
latest
numbers
show
that

investors
still
face
an
uphill
climb
to
clear
significant
profits
after
expenses,”
Attom
CEO
Rob
Barber
said
in
a
statement.
“They,
like
others,
also
face
tenuous
times
amid
a
housing
market
boom
that’s
cooled
down
over
the
past
year.
But
we
now
have
a
year’s
worth
of
a
trend
showing
that
things
have
started
to
turn
around
for
the
flipping
industry,
with
clear
signs
of
increasing
interest
flowing
into
the
market.”

Geographically
speaking,
home-flip
rates
are
up
in
77.5%
of
U.S.
metro
areas.
In
areas
with
declines,
most
experienced
a
drop
of
less
than
2
percentage
points.

Among
markets
with
a
population
of
at
least
200,000,
the
highest
rates
of
flips
were
recorded
in
Warner
Robins,
Georgia;
Macon,
Georgia;
Fayetteville,
North
Carolina;

Atlanta;
and
Memphis,
Tennessee.
The
share
of
sales
that
were
flips
in
these
markets
were
14%
or
more.

Conversely,
the
smallest
shares
of
flips
—
each
at
about
5%
—
among
the
173
metro
analyzed
were
in
Honolulu;
Oxnard,
California;
Naples,
Florida;
Des
Moines,
Iowa;
and

Seattle.

The
percentage
of
flips
paid
for
with
cash
remained
steady
at
63.8%.

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