RealtyTrac reports home flips in valley increase by 9 percent
Sure, Southern Nevada’s housing price gains cooled a bit in September. But the Las Vegas Valley still has plenty of investors trying to cash in, according to a new report from California research firm RealtyTrac.
The company’s quarterly home-flipping report showed 780 single-family home flips — when an investor buys a property and resells it within six months — in the quarter that ended in September. That was up 9 percent year over year from 714 homes in the third quarter of 2012, and it’s above a 13 percent decline nationally.
The average gross profit was $53,503, based on an initial average purchase price of $144,197, and a sale price of $190,910. The average profit nationwide was $54,927.
But Las Vegas was nowhere near the hottest market for flips. Markets with bigger gains included Los Angeles (11 percent), Seattle (23 percent), Detroit (13 percent) and New York (14 percent). Flips also surged 28 percent in Chicago and 32 percent in Atlanta.
A few former flipping darlings lost their luster in the quarter. Flips plummeted 37 percent in Phoenix, 47 percent in Tampa, Fla., and 37 percent in Stockton, Calif., as prices rose and supplies dwindled.
Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @J_Robison1 on Twitter.
