RealtyTrac report revealed that the number of homes flipped in 2015 was the highest since 2007 and that about 170,000 houses and condos were remodeled before they were listed.
According to the fourth-quarter 2015 U.S. home flipping report, flips made up about 6 percent of all homes and condo sales, up from a 5 percent share in 2014. This was the first increase in share of houses flipped following four years of decline, Housing Wire reported.
Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac stated that as fate in the housing recovery spreads, more real estate investors are joining the home-flipping bandwagon. He even added that not only is the share of home flips on the rise, but he also expects the flipping trend to trickle down to smaller investors who are doing fewer flips per year.
The total number of investors who made at least one flip in 2015 was at the highest level in almost 10 years. Also, the number of flips per investor was at the lowest level.
A flip is defined as a property that is bought and sold again within a 12-month period. In 2015, the 5.5 percent of U.S. homes flipped was still well below the peak of 8.2 percent of U.S. homes flipped in 2005.
The share of flipped properties in 2015 was above the 2005 levels in 12 of the 110 metro areas, including Memphis, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, San Diego, New York, Seattle, Alabama, Birmingham, and Cleveland, RealtyTrac reported.
Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate chief economist has said that when home flipping shares go up, it is an indication that the housing market is in jeopardy. He continued by saying that the problem with a rise in home flipping numbers is that these sales artificially inflate prices, making housing even more costly for buyers and thereby increase the risk of a bubble.
