Home Flipping Profits Drop In The First Quarter of 2025

ATTOM released its first quarter 2025 U.S. Home Flipping Report showing that 67,394 single family homes and condominiums were flipped in the first quarter of 2025, accounting for 8.3 percent of all home sales from January through March.

The share of flipped properties, as a percentage of all sales, rose to 8.3 percent from 7.4 percent the previous quarter. But it was down slightly compared to the same time last year, when flips accounted for 8.7 percent of all sales.

The buying slowdown also appears to be affecting home flippers. The 67,394 homes and condos flipped nationwide during the first three months of the year marked the lowest number in a quarter since 2018. Returns have also been falling, with the typical flipped home netting a 25 percent return on investment (before expenses) in the first quarter of 2025. That was down from 28 percent in the previous quarter and continued a gradual decline from the recent high of 48.8 in the fall of 2020.

Gross profits on a typical flipped home, the difference between the median purchase and median resale price for home flips, were down to $65,000 from $70,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024.  The typical investor paid $260,000 for a home they flipped in the first quarter of 2025 and sold the property for $325,000.

“The competitive home market means high prices, which is good for short-term investors on the selling end,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “But that dynamic is also making it harder to find under-priced homes to buy up and it’s ultimately squeezing profit margins for the industry.”

“It’s tricky to balance at times when the market looks like it could take a downturn,” he added. “Investors don’t want to buy a property when prices are high and then see them drop before they’re ready to sell.”

Home flips, as a share of total sales, rose quarter-over-quarter in 76.3 percent (132) of the 173 metropolitan statistical areas with sufficient data to analyze. However, the share was down compared to the same time last year in two thirds (115) of the metro areas. Metro areas were included if they had a population of 200,000 or more and at least 50 home flips in the first quarter of 2025.

Among the metro areas analyzed, home flippers accounted for the biggest share of sales in Macon, GA (flips compromised 21 percent of all home sales); Warner-Robins, GA (20.6 percent); Atlanta, GA (15.9 percent); Memphis, TN (14.7 percent); and Akron, OH (13.3 percent).