High prices and inventory constraints in the housing market have not just affected people looking to dive into the market through buying and selling, but have put a serious hold on the home-flipping segment of the market.
ATTOM’s 2025 year-end U.S. Home Flipping Report found that a typical home flip earned $65,981 in gross profit, down from $77,000 in 2024. This translates to a 25.5% return on investment, which is down from 32.1% in 2024 and the lowest rate recorded since 2008, aka the Great Recession.
The report noted that in the decade following the Great Recession, home flipping experienced a boom, but market challenges in recent years have put a damper on this activity.
“Typical flipped homes (in the boom) were acquired for less than $150,000 and profit margins consistently exceeded 50%, even reaching 61.1% in 2012,” the report stated. “But home prices have soared in recent years, bringing investor returns back to their pre-financial crisis levels.”
Of the 215 metro areas ATTOM tracks, 150 saw a decline in their profit margins on home flipping, translating to 70%. The largest falls in return on investment were in Ocala, Florida (down from 492.5% in 2024 to 124.1% in 2025); Salisbury, Maryland (from 107% to 38.2%); Spartanburg, South Carolina (from 94.1% to 48.4%); Erie, Pennsylvania (from 99.9% to 56.5%); and Little Rock, Arkansas (from 91.6% to 50%).
For metro areas with populations of at least 1 million, the largest profit margin drops were in Louisville, Kentucky (down from 66.6% in 2024 to 40.2% in 2025); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (from 60.8% to 36.8% ); Rochester, New York (from 82.9% to 61.3%); Washington, D.C. (from 62.9% to 44.3%); and Cincinnati, Ohio (from 58.2% to 39.6%).
Rob Barber, ATTOM CEO, noted that home flippers are “having to get more creative to maintain profitability.”
“That could include taking on older homes, as the median flipped property in 2025 was built in 1978, the oldest since we began tracking, along with tighter cost control and more disciplined renovation strategies,” he continued.
There were still some metro areas that saw an increase in profit margins, with the largest seen in Peoria, Illinois (up from 61.2% in 2024 to 91.4% in 2025); Huntington, West Virginia (from 50.6% to 77.2%); Lake Charles, Louisiana (from 121.3% to 146.2%); Cedar Rapids, Iowa (from 29.7% to 49.6%); and Tuscaloosa, Alabama (from 9.3% to 26.4%).
The report also noted that the amount of homes being flipped fell in 2025. There were 297,045 single-family homes and condos flipped nationwide in 2025, down 3.9% from 2024 and the smallest amount of flips in a year seen since 2020.
Two-thirds (66%) of the 215 metro areas ATTOM tracks saw their home-flipping rate fall, translating to about 142 metro areas. The largest falls were in Salisbury, Maryland (-42.2%); Tallahassee, Florida (-37.5%); Lafayette, Indiana (-36%); Evansville, Indiana (-32.9%)l and Warner Robins, Georgia (-32.6%).
Conversely, there were some metro areas that saw increases in flipping despite market challenges: Binghamton, New York (+136.4%); Boulder, Colorado (+72.4%); Greeley, Colorado (+49.4%); Lexington, Kentucky (+40.3%); and Scranton, Pennsylvania (+31.2%).
Also of note, homes flipped by investors accounted for 7.4% of all home sales in 2025, down slightly from 7.6% the year prior. However, this number could be affected in future reports as the Trump administration has put into motion a ban on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes.
Some other recent reporting has suggested that smaller housing-flipping operations are a significant factor in addressing affordability, and make up a larger segment of the market compared to the larger investors targeted by the federal ban.
Barber added that competition “remains strong” due to inventory constraints in the market, and coupled with higher prices, “investors are finding it harder to secure deals that deliver strong returns.”
