Source: Scotsman Guide —
Home-flipping profit margins fell to their lowest point in nearly a decade as of third-quarter 2021, according to Attom Data Solutions’ newest U.S. Home Flipping Report.
From July through September, 94,766 single-family houses and condominiums across the country were flipped, a number that constituted 5.7% of all home sales — one in every 18 deals — during this time frame.
That’s up from a share of 5.1% during second-quarter 2021 and up from 5.2% in third-quarter 2020. It marked the second straight period of quarterly growth after a year of declining activity, signaling the continuation of a rebound after the COVID-19 crisis helped to accelerate a decline in home-flipping activities. Indeed, in terms of raw numbers, the number of homes flipped was the most seen in the market since second-quarter 2006.
While home-flip activities grew, however, profit margins dipped for the fourth consecutive quarter. The gross profit on the typical transaction — the difference between the median post-flip sales price of the property and the median price originally paid by the investor — was $68,847 in the third quarter, up 2.7% from Q2 2021 and a backtrack of 1.6% from Q3 2020. But with prices for flipped homes rising more slowly than when investors initially purchased the properties, this translated to a return on investment (ROI) of 32.3%, down from 33.2% in Q2 2021 and well below the 43.8% figure in Q3 2020. ROI sank to its lowest level since Q1 2011.
