A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Higher mortgage rates, high home prices and tight supply are all conspiring to squeeze investors in the home flipping play. In all of 2025, roughly 297,000 single-family homes and condos were flipped nationwide, according to ATTOM, a real estate data provider, which defines a flip as a home purchased and sold in the same 12-month period. That was a decrease of 3.9% from 2024 and the lowest number of flips in any year since 2020. Investor flips accounted for 7.4% of all 2025 home sales, down from 7.6% in 2024. Flips are falling because profits are making it less and less worth it. With the backdrop of the highest median home prices on record, the typical home flip netted investors just $65,981 in gross profit, or a 25.5% return on investment, according to ATTOM. That is down from 32% the prior year and the lowest rate since the Great Recession in 2008. “Competition for homes remains strong in many markets due to constrained supply,” Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, said in a release. “With prices staying elevated, investors are finding it harder to secure deals that deliver strong returns.” For comparison, in the boom decade following the financial crisis, profit margins were higher than 50%, peaking at 61% in 2012, which is around the time home prices bottome …
