House flipping declines in Utah as profitability tanks
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Utah has one of the nation's highest rates of house-flipping — despite being one of the least profitable states for it.
The intrigue: Flippers in Utah saw an average return on investment of less than 5% last year.
- That's well below the national average of 27.5%, and lower than any other state except Idaho, per a recent report from real estate data company ATTOM.
- Both states saw home prices slow over the past two years after pandemic-era spikes.
Flashback: In 2022, the ROI for flipping a Utah house was under 11% — less than half the national average.
The big picture: Per the report, house flipping peaked in Utah in 2006, when nearly 11,000 homes were bought, remodeled and resold.
- That fell to around 3,700 as of last year — a decline of more than 22% from 2022.
Yes, but: House flipping was still more common in Utah than most places, with 9.4% of homes sold to flippers — the 10th highest rate in the country.
- Nationally, the rate was 8.1%.
Zoom out: In 2023, house flipping activity nationwide dropped 29.3%, the biggest annual decline since 2008, according to the report.
- ROI hasn't been this low nationally since 2007.
Zoom in: The Provo-Orem metro saw Utah's lowest flipping rate at 7.5% of sales. Flipping activity there dropped 30% from 2022 to 2023 — the sharpest decline in the state.
- Ogden and Salt Lake saw about 10% of homes flipped, with 2022-2023 declines of around 18%.