Last year’s Tri-Cities flip home sales saw a merger increase while costs increased, but so did what flips sold for. The market share for flips was about the same as last year.

Here’s the flip sales market share of total home sales for last year:

Johnson City metro – 8.6%

Kingsport-Bristol – 9.7%

According to ATTOM’s year-end flipping report, there were 615 flip sales in the region’s two metro areas. That’s eight more than there were in 2023.

ATTOM’s report says the median price flippers paid last year was $139,500, up from $135,000 the year before. The median in Kingsport-Bristol was $123,000, up from 119,000.

Here’s the median sales price for last year’s flips.

Johnson City metro – $260,000 up from $220,000.

Kingsport-Bristol – $216,250, up from $195,000.

The overall median home sales price in the Johnson City metro last year was $285,000. It was $250,000 in Kingsport Bristol.

A third of the Johnson City flip sales were cash deals. The percentage in Kingsport-Bristol was 27%.

According to ATTOM, the average gross return on investment for flippers in both areas was higher than the previous year.

The local flipping market differed from what the ATTOM analysis found. “The home-flipping industry saw investors shy away even more in 2024 amid the extended period of languishing profits. But even as activity waned, there was at least a glimmer of hope that returns were starting to turn around,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “While home flippers still seemed to be having difficulty timing the market for big profits, their margins at least stopped going in the wrong direction.”

He added that “this year poses significant uncertainty for investors, what with a short supply of homes for sale, declining numbers of low-priced foreclosure properties, mixed economic forecasts and elevated mortgage rates. So, they will have to do some very smart buying and quick renovating to keep the profit rebound going.”

The increasing flipping cost is also driving some flippers to cut corners. City building officials say consumer complaints about shoddy work and flipper code infractions have steadily increased.

Real estate professionals are constantly warning anyone buying a flipped home to do extra due diligence to ensure they  are getting the money-saving deal they think they are.

Categories: REAL ESTATE