【World Property Journal】Home Flipping in U.S. Hits 14-Year High in Q1, Pre-Coronavirus

The first-quarter pattern of investors unable to fully keep pace with soaring home prices revealed a soft spot in the nation's nine-year market boom, just as the major impact of the worldwide Coronavirus began damaging the United States economy. While it remains unclear how hard the housing market will get hit by the pandemic fallout, a drop in prices could further erode investor profits and cloud the future of the home-flipping industry.

"Home flipping has gradually taken up a larger portion of the housing market over the last couple of years. But profits are down and are lower than they've been since the dark days following the Great Recession, which is a sign that investors aren't keeping up with price increases in the broader market," said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. "Enter now the Coronavirus pandemic and the prospects for home flipping are notably uncertain, at least in the short term. We should know a lot more in a few months about whether home prices drop and investors get hit hard, or whether they can increase their profit margins."

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