Some Housing Markets Hit New Home-Flipping Peaks

Home flipping is continuing its upward trend after dipping in late 2014, according to RealtyTrac.

The real estate data website’s “Q1 2016 U.S. Home Flipping Report” shows that the practice has increased 3 percent from one year earlier and 20 percent from the previous quarter.

In the first quarter of 2016, 6.6 percent of single-family home and condo sales were flips. While that’s less than the 9 percent share reached when flipping peaked in the first quarter of 2006, it’s more than the 4.3 percent share reached during the latest dip in the third quarter of 2014.

Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac, says flipping has been increasing since late 2014 due to falling interest rates and a lack of housing inventory for flippers to compete against. He continues:

“The good news is that — despite the 20 percent jump in the first quarter — home flipping nationally is not far above its historic norm, and home flippers in most markets appear to be behaving rationally and responsibly.”

RealtyTrac’s report defines a home flip as a property that is sold in an arm’s-length sale for the second time within a 12-month period. Statistics are based on sales deed data collected by RealtyTrac in more than 950 counties, which account for more than 80 percent of the U.S. population.

The report’s findings for local markets are perhaps even more eye-popping than those for the nation as a whole, though.

For example, the share of flipping in nine of the 126 metropolitan areas analyzed — 7 percent — reached all-time highs during the first quarter of this year. They include:

• Baltimore
• Buffalo, New York
• Huntsville, Alabama
• New Orleans
• York-Hanover, Pennsylvania

In other markets, the share of flipping reached new highs dating back to when home prices bottomed out in 2012, RealtyTrac reports. Those markets include:

• Seattle
• Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Bakersfield, California
• San Diego

The share of flipping in 75 out of the 126 metro areas — 60 percent — has increased since the first quarter of 2015. The areas that saw the largest increases over the past year are:

1. Memphis, Tennessee (13.3 percent)
2. Clarksville, Tennessee (12.5 percent)
3. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida (11.8 percent)
4. Fresno, California (11.3 percent)
5. Visalia-Porterville, California (11.1 percent)

If you’re flipping or otherwise selling a home, consider “5 Features That Sell Your Home Quickly.”

If you’re buying, consider “Your Mortgage: The Rate That Can Change Your Life.”

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