HOME FLIPPING PROFIT MARGINS HIT 17-YEAR LOW IN SECOND QUARTER

The typical flipped home generates 25.1 percent return on investment; Median investor purchase price for flipped homes hits high of $259,700

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its second quarter 2025 U.S. Home Flipping Report showing that 78,621 single family homes and condominiums were flipped in the second quarter, accounting for 7.4 percent of home sales from April through June.

That was down from the first quarter of the year, when flipped homes accounted for 8.3 percent of all sales, and slightly lower than the 7.5 percent of sales posted in the second quarter of 2024. The quarter-over-quarter drop follows a seasonal trend: Flipped properties tend to make up a higher share of overall sales during the first quarter of the year, when there are fewer sales overall.

Q2 2025 U.S. Home Flipping Historical Trends

Profits for home flippers have been steadily falling for more than a decade. In the fall of 2012, the typical flipped home netted a 62.9 percent return on investment (before expenses). In the second quarter of 2025, the typical return was 25.1 percent, the lowest home flipping profit margin ATTOM has recorded in a quarter since the second quarter of 2008.

Gross profits, the difference between what a flipper paid for a property and what they sold it for, were also down. The typical flipped home netted $65,300 in the second quarter, about 4 percent less than the previous quarter and 13.6 percent less than the same time last year.

The median purchase price, what an investor paid for a home, was $259,700 in the second quarter, the highest it has been since ATTOM began tracking the data in 2000. The median sales price of flipped homes, which refers to the price investors sold them for, was $325,000, the same as in the previous quarter.

"We're seeing very low profit margins from home flipping because of the historically high cost of homes," said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. "The initial buy-in for properties that are ideal for flipping, often lower priced homes that may need some work, keeps going up."

"As prospective homeowners get priced out of the middle and high end of the market, they're more likely to be competing with flippers over the same homes," Barber added.

Georgia remains hot market for home flipping

Compared to the first quarter, the rate of home flips as a percentage of total property sales shrank in 86.3 percent (158) of the 183 metropolitan statistical areas with sufficient data to analyze in ATTOM's report.  The rate of flips was down in 55.7 percent (102) of the 183 metro areas compared to the second quarter of 2024.

The metro areas where home flips accounted for the largest shares of sales in the second quarter of 2025 were Warner Robins, GA (18.5 percent of total sales); Macon, GA (15.5 percent); Atlanta, GA (13.6 percent); Columbus, GA (13 percent); and Memphis, TN (12.5 percent).

Besides Atlanta and Memphis, the metro areas with populations over 1 million that had the highest flipping rates were Birmingham, AL (11.8 percent); Cleveland, OH (11.2 percent); and Columbus, OH (10.5 percent).

Of those largest metro areas, the ones with the smallest flipping rates were Seattle, WA (4.1 percent of all home sales); New Orleans, LA (4.5 percent); Boston, MA (4.8 percent); Portland, OR (5 percent); and Honolulu, HI (5 percent).

Falling profit margins are widespread

The typical home flipped in the second quarter of 2025 was purchased by an investor for $259,700 and sold for $325,000, netting a 25.1 percent return on investment before expenses and a $65,300 gross profit.

Profit margins dropped quarter-over-quarter in 58 percent (107) of the 183 metro areas in ATTOM's analysis and were down year-over-year in 70 percent (128) of the markets.

The metro areas with the biggest quarterly drops in flipping profit margins were Fort Smith, AR (down from a typical return of 76.3 percent in the first quarter to 13.1 percent in the second quarter); Green Bay, WI (down from 70.1 percent to 19.3 percent); Clarksville, TN (down from 65.5 percent to 26.2 percent); South Bend, IN (down from 85 percent to 52.1 percent); and Hilton Head Island, SC (down from 27 percent profit to a 2.9 percent loss on flipped homes).

Among metro areas with populations over 1 million, the biggest drop-offs were in Virginia Beach, VA (down from 74.8 percent to 59.8 percent); Orlando, FL (down from 35.6 percent to 22.3 percent); Grand Rapids, MI (down from 41.4 percent to 28.6 percent); Jacksonville, FL (down from 38 percent to 27.2 percent); and Milwaukee, WI (down from 45.2 percent to 35.3 percent).

Just over a quarter, 26.2 percent (48), of the 183 metro areas analyzed had typical profit margins on flipped homes at 50 percent or higher.

The areas with the largest typical profit margins in the second quarter of 2025 were Pittsburgh, PA (106.8 percent); Shreveport, LA (104.2 percent); Scranton, PA (104.1 percent); Kalamazoo, MI (100 percent); and Buffalo, NY (91.7 percent).

Besides Pittsburgh and Buffalo, the metro areas with populations over 1 million that had the highest typical gross profit margin were New Orleans, LA (78.1 percent); Baltimore, MD (75.5 percent); and Memphis, TN (70.6 percent).

The large metro areas with the smallest typical profit margins were Austin, TX (5.5 percent); San Antonio, TX (7.7 percent); Dallas, TX (9.3 percent); Raleigh, NC (10.3 percent); and Salt Lake City, UT (10.8 percent).

Q2 2025 Home Flipping Profit Trends Historical Chart

Purchase price sweet spot is between $100,000 and $200,000

Flipped homes purchased by investors for between $100,000 and $200,000 had the highest typical profit margin: 37 percent. That was followed by homes initially purchased for between $200,000 and $300,000, at 27 percent, and homes initially purchased for between $300,000 and $400,000, at 22 percent.

Two-thirds of flipped homes bought with all cash

Nationwide in the second quarter of 2025, 62.6 percent of flipped homes were purchased with all cash, which was the same rate posted in the second quarter of 2024 but up slightly from 62.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025.

The metro areas with the highest percentage of flipped homes purchased with cash were Tuscaloosa, AL (85.3 percent); Youngstown, OH (82 percent); Flint, MI (80.3 percent); Toledo, OH (79.7 percent); and Buffalo, NY (79.4 percent).

Time-to-flip continues to lengthen

Nationwide, the typical flipped home took 165 days from purchase to resale in the second quarter of 2025, up from 163 days the previous quarter but down from 167 at the same time last year.

Q2 2025 U.S. Avg Days to Flip Historical Chart

Flipped homes attracting more FHA buyers

Across the country, 11.2 percent of flipped homes were sold to buyers using Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages, which are commonly used by first-time home buyers. That was up slightly from 11 percent in the previous quarter and 10.9 percent in the second quarter of 2024.

The metro areas with the highest proportion of flipped homes purchased by buyers using FHA loans were Visalia, CA (32.6 percent); Modesto, CA (31.8 percent); Bakersfield, CA (30.4 percent); Lakeland, FL (29.5 percent); and Stockton, CA (28.2 percent).

Georgia counties lead in flipping

Flipped properties accounted for at least 10 percent of all home sales in 16.9 percent (169) of the 1,001 counties in ATTOM's analysis that had at least 10 flipped properties in the second quarter of 2025.

The counties where home flips accounted for the largest share of overall sales were Stephens County, TX (27.5 percent); Cobb County, GA (23.1 percent); San Miguel County, CO (22.5 percent); Clayton County, GA (21.4 percent); and Douglas County, GA (20.5 percent).

Of the 20 counties with the highest flipping rate, 13 were in Georgia.

Conclusion: 
Home flipping activity in the U.S. remained widespread in the second quarter of 2025, but profits continued to erode, with the typical gross return on investment falling to 25.1 percent, the lowest margin since 2008. While overall flipping volume declined slightly from the previous quarter, the median investor purchase price rose to a record $259,700, squeezing profits amid persistently high acquisition costs. Cash purchases remained the dominant financing method, and time-to-flip continued to edge upward. Amid tight inventory and rising home prices, competition from both flippers and first-time buyers intensified, especially at the lower end of the market. Georgia stood out as a national leader in flipping activity, with several of its counties and metros posting some of the highest flipping rates in the country.

Report methodology

ATTOM analyzed sales deed data for this report. A single-family home or condo flip was any arms-length transaction that occurred in the quarter where a previous arms-length transaction on the same property had occurred within the last 12 months. The average gross flipping profit is the difference between the purchase price and the flipped price (not including rehab costs and other expenses incurred, which flipping veterans estimate typically run between 20 percent and 33 percent of the property's after-repair value). Gross flipping return on investment was calculated by dividing the gross flipping profit by the original purchase price.

About ATTOM

ATTOM powers innovation across industries with premium property data and analytics covering 158 million U.S. properties—99% of the population. Our multi-sourced real estate data includes property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, neighborhood and geospatial boundary information, all validated through a rigorous 20-step process and linked by a unique ATTOM ID.

From flexible delivery solutions—such as Property Data APIs, Bulk File Licenses, ATTOM Cloud, Real Estate Market Trends—to AI-Ready datasets, ATTOM fuels smarter decision-making across industries including real estate, mortgage, insurance, government, and more.

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