Home Flipping Loan Volume Rises To Nine-Year High In Q1 2017 As Average Flipping Returns Decline For Second Straight Quarter

Home flips in Q1 2017 accounted for 6.7 percent of all single family home and condo sales during the quarter, up from 5.8 percent in the previous quarter and unchanged from a year ago.

One-third (33.3 percent) of all single family homes and condos flipped in Q1 2017 were purchased by the flipper with financing, up from 31.9 percent in Q4 2016 and up from 29.5 percent in Q1 2016 to the highest level since Q3 2008, when 37.6 percent of completed home flips were purchased by the flipper using financing.

"The business of financing for home flippers continued to grow in the first quarter of 2017 even as the home flipping rate plateaued compared to a year ago and average home flipping returns decreased for the second consecutive quarter," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. "Home flippers financed an estimated $3.5 billion in purchases for homes flipped during the quarter, up from $3.3 billion in the previous quarter and up from $2.4 billion a year ago to the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2007 — a more than nine-year high."

Home Flipping Financing Trends Chart

Colorado Springs, Denver, and Seattle lead markets with most financed home flips
Among 85 metropolitan statistical areas with at least 90 completed home flips in Q1 2017, those with the highest share originally purchased by the flipper with financing were Colorado Springs, Colorado (69.3 percent); Denver, Colorado (54.8 percent); Seattle, Washington (51.6 percent); Boston, Massachusetts (51.3 percent); and Providence, Rhode Island (47.3 percent).

"Seattle has such a high number of flippers who are financing their purchases relative to the U.S. as a whole due to escalating home prices in our region. The decision to finance is proof that these flippers believe the risks of financing are low due to our booming housing market," said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, covering the Seattle market. "While the number of home flippers across the nation is not growing, the opposite is true in Seattle. The demand for homes in our market is extremely competitive and this is enabling flippers to still see a return, even amidst rising home prices."

Other markets where more than 40 percent of home flips completed in Q1 2017 were originally purchased by the flipper using financing included San Diego, California; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Phoenix, Arizona; San Francisco, California; and Washington, D.C.

"With low interest rates, and available lenders willing to provide non-owner occupied loans, we are seeing many of our investors across Southern California take advantage of leverage financing when participating in housing flips," said Michael Mahon, president at First Team Real Estate, covering the Southern California housing market.

Home Flipping Heat Map

Average home flipping returns decrease for second consecutive quarter
Homes flipped in the first quarter of 2017 were sold for a median price of $200,000, a gross flipping profit of $64,284 above the median purchase price of $135,716. The $64,284 average gross flipping profit translated into an average 47.4 percent gross return on investment (ROI) for homes flipped in Q1 2017, down from an average 49.0 percent average gross flipping ROI in Q4 2016 and an average 48.5 percent average gross flipping ROI in Q1 2016 — the second straight quarter where the average gross flipping ROI decreased on a year-over-year basis following six consecutive quarters of year-over-year increases.

Read full report and methodology.

About ATTOM Data Solutions
ATTOM Data Solutions is the curator of the ATTOM Data Warehouse, a multi-sourced national property database that blends property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, health hazards, neighborhood characteristics and other property characteristic data for more than 150 million U.S. residential and commercial properties. The ATTOM Data Warehouse delivers actionable data to businesses, consumers, government agencies, universities, policymakers and the media in multiple ways, including bulk file licenses, APIs and customized reports.

Media Contact:
Jennifer von Pohlmann
949.502.8300, ext. 139
[email protected]

Data Licensing & Custom Reports
949.502.8313
[email protected]

SOURCE ATTOM Data Solutions

Related Links

http://www.attomdata.com