Fewer home flips in Atlanta as profits plummet
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The past year saw fewer dumpsters in driveways in metro Atlanta neighborhoods as house flipping decreased, mirroring a national trend.
Why it matters: Flipped houses made up 14% of the home sales in metro Atlanta last year, which, like many Sun Belt cities, is a hotbed for investors looking to profit off the high demand of housing.
- The renovated homes can help stabilize neighborhoods but can also help fuel resident displacement.
Zoom in: Metro Atlanta investors flipped 13,365 properties in 2023, a 10.1% drop compared to the previous year, according to a recent report by real estate data firm ATTOM. That's still 98.1% above 2018 levels.
- Flippers made a 16.4% gross return on investment, the report says.
Zoom out: Metro Atlanta made up more than half of Georgia's 20,894 flips in 2023.
The big picture: In 2023, house flipping activity nationwide dropped 29.3%, the biggest annual decline since 2008, according to the report.
- Return on investment, at 27.5%, hasn't been this bad since 2007. The ROI was down from 28.1% in 2022 and 35.7% in 2021.
Of note: Four Texas metros — Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston — saw the weakest home-flip returns in 2023 among cities with at least 1 million in population, including a 4.1% loss in Austin, per ATTOM's report.
What's next: Buying a fixer-upper is one way for wishful homeowners to squeak out a deal in some U.S. markets, if they can beat investors.
- In Atlanta, buying a house that needs some work could save $109,000, per a recent study by StorageCafe.