With the expansion of the economy, the concept of flipping homes has taken on a whole new meaning. Appreciation rates have changed the way things are done, and real estate investors are taking notice. At the onset of this year, flips, which have been defined by RealtyTrac as homes that were bought and sold within a year’s time, only accounted for four percent of all home sales. In fact, the 17,309 homes that were flipped marked the lowest rate since the halfway point of 2011.
While there are certainly fewer flips being done, more profit is being made than ever. At the beginning of this year, the average gross profit on a flip reached $72,450, up from $61,684 in the first quarter of 2014. That is the highest amount we have seen since surveys started keeping track of such data in 2011, and is attributed to a lack of inventory. As a result, those prices are giving investors an average gross return of 35 percent.
Of course, markets are extremely localized, and therefore susceptible to different rates of appreciation. That said, some markets are better for flipping homes than others. The following represents a comprehensive breakdown of the cities where investors are making the highest returns flipping homes:
