More Flipped Homes Hit the Market

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Flipping is in vogue again. The share of U.S. homes flipped in the third quarter rose 18 percent compared to a year ago, according to RealtyTrac’s Third Quarter 2015 U.S. Home Flipping Report. The report showed 43,197 single-family homes and condos were flipped – sold for the second time within a 12-month period – which comprises 5 percent of all single-family and condo sales during the quarter.

Read more: Investors Show Slight Favor to Flipping

“After curtailing flipping activity last year due to slowing home price appreciation and shrinking inventory of flip-worthy homes, real estate investors have started to jump back on the flipping bandwagon in 2015,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “On the acquisition side, investors are finding creative ways to pinpoint potential flips in the off-market arena, and on the disposition side investors have a bigger pool of potential buyers thanks to a surge in FHA buyers this year, many of them first-time buyers looking for starter homes.”
RealtyTrac’s report showed the average gross flipping profit – the difference between the purchase price and flipped price (which does not include rehab costs)—was $62,122 in the third quarter. That is up slightly from an average gross flipping profit of $61,781 in the third quarter of last year, according to the report.
Eighty-five percent of the 101 markets RealtyTrac tracked posted annual increases in flipping activity. The following top 15 markets had the highest share of flipped homes in the third quarter:

1. Memphis, Tenn.: 10.5%
2. Fresno, Calif.: 9.5%
3. Mobile, Ala.: 9.2%
4. Tampa, Fla.: 9.1%
5. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.: 9%
6. Las Vegas: 8.7%
7. Miami: 8.6%
8. Jacksonville, Fla.: 7.6%
9. Baltimore: 7.4%
10. Birmingham, Ala.: 7.4%
11. Phoenix: 7.3%
12. Orlando: 7.2%
13. New Orleans: 6.9%
14. Virginia Beach, Va.: 6.8%
15. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.: 6.5%

Source: RealtyTrac