Flipping leaps 114 per cent in us

Flipped: A home flipped in California Photo: Waltarrrrr

There were 156,862 single family home flips in America last year, according to data from RealtyTrac. accounting for 4.6 per cent of all single family home sales compared to 4.2 per cent in 2012 and 2.6 per cent in 2011.

The practice was driven by soaring price rises in the past year, as demand and low supply fuelled record jumps in home values. Indeed, the average gross profit for a home flip — the difference between the flipped price and the price the flipper purchased the property for — was $58,081 for all U.S. homes flipped in 2013, up from $45,759 in 2012.

Flipping was primarily carried out within the higher end of the market, on homes with a flipped price of $400,000 or more, notes RealtyTrac. Although flipping increased across all price ranges, flips on homes with a flipped sale price above $400,000 increased 36 per cent from 2012, while flips on homes below $400,000 increased 17 per cent2.

The average time to complete a flip nationwide was 84 days in 2013, down from 86 days in 2012 and down from 100 days in 2011.

Flipping hotspots included Virginia Beach and Jacksonville, Florida, where the number of flips soared 141 per cent and 92 per cent respectively. Baltimore, Md., Atlanta, Richmond, Va.,, Washington, D.C. and Detroit were also popular markets for flippers.

“Strong home price appreciation in many markets boosted profits for flippers in 2013 despite a shrinking inventory of lower-priced foreclosure homes to purchase,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. “For the year 21 percent of all properties flipped were purchased out of foreclosure, but that is down from 27 percent in 2012 and 32 percent in 2011. Meanwhile flipped homes were still purchased at an average discount of 13 percent below market value in 2013, the same average discount as 2012, indicating that investors are finding discounted buying opportunities outside of the public foreclosure process — particularly in those markets with the biggest increases in flipping for the year.”