Property Play: Home flippers see smallest profits since the Great Recession, real estate data firm says

Higher mortgage rates, high home prices and tight supply are all conspiring to squeeze investors in the home flipping play. In all of 2025, roughly 297,000 single-family homes and condos were flipped nationwide, according to ATTOM, a real estate data provider, which defines a flip as a home purchased and sold in the same 12-month period. That was a decrease of 3.9% from 2024 and the lowest number of flips in any year since 2020. Investor flips accounted for 7.4% of all 2025 home sales, down from 7.6% in 2024. Flips are falling because profits are making it less and less worth it. With the backdrop of the highest median home prices on record, the typical home flip netted investors just $65,981 in gross profit, or a 25.5% return on investment, according to ATTOM. That is down from 32% the prior year and the lowest rate since the Great Recession in 2008. Get Property Play directly to your inbox CNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox. Subscribe here to get access today . "Competition for homes remains strong in many markets due to constrained supply," Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, said in a release. "With prices staying elevated, investors are finding it harder to secure deals that deliver strong returns." For comparison, in the boom decade following the financial crisis, profit margins were higher than 50%, peaking at 61% in 2012, which is around the time home prices bottomed. Net profits, or investor returns that factor in the cost of fixing up the property, can vary widely depending on local labor, material and financing costs. Across the U.S., however, the cost of fixing properties before flipping remains elevated due to ongoing supply chain pressures and tariff-related increases in material prices, which continue to compress investor margins, according to ATTOM. There are signs, however, that the flipping market could improve this year, as home prices are expected to moder...