6.6 Percent of Homes Sold in DC Area in Late 2015 Were Flipped

• February 19, 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

As home prices rise and profit margins get smaller, home flipping is not as prevalent as it was in years past. Still, the DC area ranks as one of the places where flipping is still relatively prevalent.

6.6 percent of homes sold in the region in the third quarter of 2015 were flips, according to a study out today by Trulia, which puts the DC area in the top ten U.S. cities for home flipping.

Nationally, the percentage of flipped home sales has held steady over the past year at 5 percent, down from a peak of 8.6 percent in the first quarter of 2006. The percentage of flipped home sales bottomed out nationally in the third quarter of 2008, at 3.5 percent.

“The good news: [the national] flip rate is roughly in line with the non-housing bubble years and well below the 8.6% flip rate of all home sales in 2006,” the report stated. “The concern: there are some hot spots. While stable nationally, we’re having déjà vu: flipping is making a comeback in places such as Las Vegas and Miami, which saw high levels of flipping activity during the previous boom. Moreover, there’s evidence that house flippers may be sitting out in some markets. That’s because rapid price growth in some expensive markets may be making that initial buy too costly for house flippers.”

House flipping is a short-term speculative investment in the housing market. Moderate flip rates which mirror larger home price and buying trends can be indicative of a healthy housing market. Trulia’s study only includes data from traditional flips, wherein a house is purchased at market rate, improved and sold at an increased market rate.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/6_6_percent_of_homes_sold_in_dc_area_in_late_2015/10885