Investors in St. Louis who bought, renovated and resold houses within one year, ie. house flippers, purchased one in five homes during Q2 2019, according to realtor.com. Most of these St. Louis investors came from California and Colorado unlike two decades ago when most St. Louis investors were locals.
With a median home price of $189,900 in St. Louis during Q2 2019, most house flipping happened in the$175,000+ market segment, according to Dennis Norman of MORE Realtors. Houses priced $125,000 and below were typically turned into single-family rentals.
Nationwide, investors bought 7.7% of all homes in Q2 2019. This share of investor purchase represents the highest share of investor participation in the housing market since 2013. Why such a large share? George Ratiu, senior economist with realtor.com, said, “The return (on house flipping) remains attractive.”
According to ATTOM Data Solutions, the typical difference between the purchase price and resale price for house flips was $62,700 during Q2 2019. This $62,700 does NOT include the costs involved with property repairs and renovations. When including repairs and renovations, the net profit translates into 20-30% of the flipped home’s value.
Looking at the Nation’s Top 10 House Flipping Markets, we see
- St. Louis – 20% of all sales to investors
- Birmingham AL – 17.3% of all sales to investors
- Miami – 17% of all sales to investors
- Tampa – 16.2% of all sales to investors
- Memphis – 16.1% of all sales to investors
- Las Vegas – 15.7% of all sales to investors
- Phoenix – 15,1% of all sales to investors
- Orlando – 15.1% of all sales to investors
- Columbus OH – 13.8% of all sales to investors
- Philadelphia – 13.6% of all sales to investors
Thanks to HousingWire’s Kathleen Howley and ATTOM Data Solutions for source data.
Also read: Un-Regrettable Renovations, What’s Happening with Bidding Wars?,New American Dream? Home Renter-ship?
