Think-Realty-Magazine-May-June-2016

BYTHE NUMBERS

FLIPPING

the number of flips per investor was at the lowest level since 2008.”

AFlip of theNumbers HOME FLIPPING UP IN 2015 AFTER FOUR-YEAR SLIDE, REALTYTRAC YEAR-END REPORT SHOWS.

HIGHESTNUMBER SINCE 2007 There were 110,008 investors or entities that completed at least one home flip in 2015, the highest number of home flippers since 2007, when there were 130,603 home flippers. The peak in the number of active home flippers was 259,192 in 2005. There were 1.63 home flips per investor in 2015, the lowest ratio of flips per investor since 2008. “More inexperienced home flippers with a smaller financial cushion could be a sign of an overspeculative market, but the data indicates that flippers in 2015 continued to operate within relatively conservative mar- gins,” Blomquist continued. “Homes flipped in 2015 were on average purchased at a 26 percent discount below estimated market value and resold by the flipper at a 5 percent premium above estimated market value.” The 5.5 percent share of U.S. homes flipped in 2015 was still well below the peak of 8.2 percent of U.S. homes flipped in 2005. Counter to the national trend, the share

by RealtyTrac

R

sale for the second time within a 12-month period based on publicly recorded sales deed data collected by RealtyTrac in more than 950 counties accounting for more than 80 percent of the U.S. population. “As confidence in the housing recovery spreads, more real estate investors and would-be real estate investors are hopping on the home flipping bandwagon,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “Not only is the share of home flips on the rise again, but we also see the flipping trend trickling down to smaller investors who are completing fewer flips per year. The total number of investors who completed at least one flip in 2015 was at the highest level since 2007, and

ealtyTrac’s Year-End and Q4 2015 U.S. Home Flipping Report shows

that 179,778 U.S. single-family homes and condos were flipped in 2015. That accounts for 5.5 percent of all single-family home and condo sales during the year. The 5.5 percent share of U.S. home flips in 2015 was up from a 5.3 percent share in 2014, marking the first annual increase in the share of homes flipped following four consecutive years of decreases. The share of homes flipped in 2015 increased from the previous year in 83 of 110 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas nationwide analyzed for the report (75 percent). For the report, a home flip is defined as a property that is sold in an arms-length

130 | think realty magazine | may :: june 2016

Made with FlippingBook Online document