HOME FLIPPING ROI DROPS BELOW 25 PERCENT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2008

Home flipping rates down quarterly and annually; Typical flipped home generated $60,000 gross profit for 23.1 percent return on investment

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its third quarter 2025 U.S. Home Flipping Report showing that 72,217 single-family homes and condominiums were flipped in the third quarter, accounting for 6.8 percent of home sales from July through September.

The number of flips nationwide was down quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, from 79,335 in the previous quarter and 75,977 in the third quarter of last year. So was the share of flips, which accounted for 7.3 percent of all sales in the second quarter of the year and 7 percent in the third quarter of 2024.

Q3 2025 U.S. Home Flipping Historical Trends

As the nation experienced record high home prices, return on investment from flipping homes continued a decade-long decline. The typical profit margin for a flipped home in the third quarter was 23.1 percent, down from 26.5 percent in the previous quarter and 29.8 percent at the same time last year.

ATTOM's home flipping data shows that, until the most recent quarter, typical flipping profit margins hadn't fallen below 25 percent since the second quarter of 2008, as the nation confronted an economic recession spurred by a mortgage crisis.

Gross profits, the difference between what a flipper purchased and sold homes for, were down as well. A typical flipped home in the third quarter was purchased by an investor at a national median price of $260,000 and sold at a national median of $320,000, generating $60,000 in gross profits. In the previous quarter, the typical flip netted $68,000 in profit and at the same time last year it was $73,554.

"Home flipping activity and profitability continued to decline in Q3 2025 with typical return on investment dropping to 23.1%, the lowest since 2008," said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM.

"Rising home prices and shrinking margins have made flipping increasingly challenging," he added. "What was once a flipping market that consistently delivered 40–60% returns for more than a decade beginning in 2009 has now settled into five straight quarters of returns in the 20% range. Investors must choose their markets more carefully as the game has fundamentally changed."

Southern metros have highest flip rates

The rate of flips, as a share of overall sales, dropped quarter-over-quarter in 63.7 (116) of the 182 metropolitan statistical areas with sufficient data to analyze. The year-over-year decline was nearly the same: 62.6 percent (114) of the 182 metro areas had lower flip rates in the third quarter of 2025 than they did in 2024.

The metro areas with the highest flipped home rates were Columbus, GA (flips accounted for 13.5 percent of all sales); Tuscaloosa, AL (12.1 percent of all sales); Spartanburg, SC (12 percent of all sales); Canton, OH (11.2 percent of all sales); and Atlanta, GA (11.1 percent of all sales).

After Atlanta, the metro areas with populations over 1 million that had the highest flipping rates were Birmingham, AL (10.9 percent of all sales); Memphis, TN (10.3 percent of all sales); Dallas, TX (10.3 percent of all sales); and Phoenix, AZ (9.9 percent of all sales).

Of those largest metro areas, those with the smallest flipping rates were Seattle, WA (3.9 percent of all sales); Honolulu, HI (4.1 percent of all sales); Hartford, CT (4.3 percent of all sales); Rochester, NY (4.6 percent of all sales); and Pittsburgh, PA (4.6 percent of all sales).

Texas cities see single-digit profit margins from flipping

Profit margins from home flipping dropped quarter-over-quarter in 61 percent (111) of the 182 metro areas with sufficient data to analyze.

The metro areas with the biggest quarterly drops in profit margins were Hilo, HI (down from a 49.4 percent typical return on investment in the second quarter of 2025 to a 1.2 percent return in the third quarter of 2025); Appleton, WI (down from 51.6 percent to 14.9 percent); Hagerstown, MD (down from 74.1 percent to 38.8 percent); Erie, PA (down from 57.9 percent to 26.9 percent); and Augusta, GA (down from 79.2 percent to 50.2 percent).

Only 22 percent (40) of the 182 metro areas analyzed had flipping profit margins over 50 percent in the third quarter.

The areas with the largest typical profit margins from flipping were Lynchburg, VA (130.5 percent); Scranton, PA (104 percent); Pittsburgh, PA (103.6 percent); Buffalo, NY (94.1 percent); and Shreveport, LA (86.5 percent).

After Pittsburgh and Buffalo, the metros with populations over 1 million that had the highest typical flipping profit margins were Memphis, TN (75 percent); New Orleans, LA (72.4 percent); and Richmond, VA (72.2 percent).

Among those large metro areas, the smallest typical profit margins were in Austin, TX (4.1 percent); Dallas, TX (4.6 percent); Houston, TX (5.1 percent); San Antonio, TX (6.5 percent); Salt Lake City, UT (11 percent); and Raleigh, NC (11.1 percent).

Q3 2025 Home Flipping Profit Trends Historical Chart

Cheapest properties lost money when flipped

Nationwide, the homes originally purchased by investors for less than $50,000 generated a typical loss on investment of 14 percent.

The greatest return on investment tended to be for homes purchased for between $100,000 and $200,000. Those properties provided a typical profit margin of 31 percent once sold, followed by homes sold for over $5 million, which generated a typical profit margin of 28 percent.

Flips purchased with all-cash down slightly year-over-year

Nationwide, 62.9 percent of flipped homes were purchased with all cash, up slightly from 62.2 percent the previous quarter but down from 63.4 percent at the same time last year.

The metro areas with the highest share of flipped homes purchased with all cash were Flint, MI (85.3 percent); Erie, PA (84.3 percent); Youngstown, PA (84.1 percent); Cape Coral, FL (80.7 percent); and Toledo, OH (80.4 percent).

Time to flip shortens

Nationwide, it took on average 161 days to flip a home in the third quarter, down from 165 days the previous quarter but up slightly from 160 days at the same time last year.

Q3 2025 U.S. Avg Days to Flip Historical Chart

Fewer FHA buyers in third quarter

Across the country, 10.6 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 down from 12.2 percent in the second quarter but up from 10.2 percent at the same time last year.

The metro areas with the highest proportion of flipped homes sold to FHA buyers were Shreveport, LA (27.6 percent); Stockton, CA (27.5 percent); Modesto, CA (25.6 percent); Port St. Lucie, FL (25.5 percent); and Brownsville, TX (23.5 percent).

Georgia counties see high flipping rates

Flipped properties accounted for at least 10 percent of all sales in 104 (10.7 percent) of the 969 counties with sufficient data to analyze.

The counties were home flips accounted for the largest share of total sales were Terrell County, GA (32.4 percent); San Miguel County, CO (21.1 percent); Clayton County, GA (19.2 percent); Humphreys County, TN (14.9 percent); and Santa Cruz County, AZ (14.4 percent).

Key Takeaways from the Q3 2025 Flipping Report

Home flipping activity and profitability continued to decline in Q3 2025, with flips making up 6.8% of all home sales and the typical return on investment dropping to 23.1%, the lowest since 2008. Investors earned a median gross profit of $60,000 as rising home prices and shrinking margins made flipping increasingly challenging. Flipping rates and profitability varied widely across markets, with Southern metros seeing the highest flip activity and several major Texas metros posting single-digit returns.

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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SOURCE ATTOM