Home-Flipping Profits Decline Again After Brief First-Quarter Rebound, Report Says

The U.S. home-flipping market resumed its two-year retreat in the second quarter, reversing a brief improvement at the start of the year as profit margins fell from both the previous quarter and a year earlier.

Nearly 78,000 single-family homes and condominiums were flipped between April and June, accounting for 6.2 percent of all home sales nationwide, real estate data firm ATTOM stated on Oct. 1.

That share was down from 8 percent in the first quarter and 7.3 percent a year earlier.

The overall number of homes flipped increased from about 65,000 in the first quarter but remained below the more than 80,000 homes flipped during the second quarter of 2025.

Gross profit, or the difference between the median resale price of a flipped property and the median price originally paid, fell to $60,526, from $66,932 in the first quarter and $71,000 in the same period last year.

According to the analysis, a typical home flip generated a 21.5 percent gross return on investment in the second quarter, down from 25.7 percent in the first quarter and 27.6 percent a year earlier, according to ATTOM.

The return is calculated by dividing the gross profit on a flipped home by its original purchase price.

The decline reversed a modest improvement at the beginning of this year.

In the first quarter, typical flipping returns rose for the first time in nearly two years, ending a seven-quarter streak of declines. ATTOM described that increase as a possible sign that market conditions were stabilizing.

“Flippers are still making money in most markets, but the typical return continues to narrow,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said. “The second-quarter numbers continue the general downward trend in profit margins and gross profits we have seen over the past two years.”

The pullback was widespread. Typical flipping profit margins declined from the previous quarter in 126 of the 186 metropolitan areas that ATTOM analyzed.

The share of home sales involving flips also fell quarter over quarter in 162 of those 186 markets.

Among metropolitan areas with populations of more than 1 million people, Pittsburgh posted the largest typical flipping margin at 81.5 percent, followed by Buffalo at 76.6 percent, New Orleans at 75 percent, Virginia Beach at 63.4 percent, and Philadelphia at 62.8 percent.

Several large Texas markets remained far less profitable. San Antonio posted a typical loss of 0.3 percent, while profit margins were just 1.8 percent in Dallas, 2.8 percent in Austin, and 3.7 percent in Houston.

Returns also varied sharply depending on the price paid for a property.

Homes originally bought for between $100,000 and $200,000 were the most profitable segment, generating a typical return of 28 percent, according to ATTOM.

Properties bought for between $200,000 and $300,000 produced a 26 percent return, while those bought for $300,000 to $400,000 returned about 20 percent.

At the very bottom of the market, however, the economics were considerably worse. Homes bought for $50,000 or less generated a typical loss of $15,000, equivalent to a negative 38 percent return.

ATTOM’s profit calculations do not include expenses such as renovation, financing, or property taxes, meaning actual returns to investors can be considerably lower.

The firm estimates that rehabilitation and other costs can amount to 20 percent to 33 percent of a property’s after-repair value.

One area that saw improvement is the time needed to complete a flip.

In the second quarter, the typical flipped home took 161 days from purchase to resale, down from 165 days in the first quarter and 166 days a year earlier, according to ATTOM.