Home flipping returns fall to 21.5%, but ATTOM's $60,526 gross profit is before rehab costs that can exceed it

The typical U.S. home flip earned a 21.5% gross return in the second quarter. That is down from 25.7% in the first quarter and 27.6% a year earlier, according to ATTOM's Q2 2026 Home Flipping Report, released Thursday. The typical gross profit fell to $60,526, from $66,932 in the first quarter and $71,000 a year ago, a 14.8% drop over the year.

Investors flipped 77,991 single-family homes and condos in the quarter, or 6.2% of all home sales. The share was down from 8% in the first quarter and 7.3% a year earlier. "Flippers are still making money in most markets, but the typical return continues to narrow," ATTOM chief executive Rob Barber said.

The figure the headline leaves out: rehab

ATTOM's gross profit is simply resale price minus purchase price. The report's methodology says it excludes rehab and other costs, "which flipping veterans estimate typically run between 20 percent and 33 percent of the property's after-repair value."

The arithmetic is worth doing. A $60,526 gain at a 21.5% return implies a purchase price of roughly $281,500 and a resale price of roughly $342,000. Because ATTOM's two figures are separate medians, these are approximations, not a real transaction. On a $342,000 resale, rehab at 20% to 33% of value comes to about $68,400 to $112,900. Both ends of that range are larger than the typical gross profit. That is before financing, holding costs, insurance and sale commissions.

So "21.5% returns" does not describe the typical flipper's net result. A flipper who buys cheaply, does light cosmetic work, or uses their own crews can still come out well ahead. A flipper paying full price for a heavy renovation, at the median, probably does not.

Where the margins went

The mismatch is in Texas. Dallas has one of the highest flipping rates of any metro over 1 million people, at 9.4% of sales, but a 1.8% gross return there cannot cover even the low end of a rehab budget. ATTOM counts any resale within 12 months as a flip, so not every Dallas transaction in that count is a renovation. Margins fell from the prior quarter in 126 of the 186 metros ATTOM analyzed.

The purchase price matters more than location. Homes bought for $100,000 to $200,000 returned a typical 28%. Homes bought for $50,000 or less lost a typical $15,000, a return of minus 38%. The typical flip took 161 days, down from 166 a year ago.

Who it actually hits: renovation contractors in Ohio

Flipping is concentrated in Ohio. Among large metros, Cleveland had the highest flipping rate at 10.4% of sales and Columbus, Ohio was second at 9.5%. Among all metros, Canton at 11.6% and Akron at 11.2% were second and third behind Columbus, Georgia. Each of those flips is renovation work, and CheckThisBiz lists 5,137 independent construction firms in Ohio that compete for it. When margins narrow, the rehab budget is the cost a flipper controls most directly. A contractor who depends on flippers should expect smaller scopes and more pressure on price, and should get deposits up front from investors whose projects are already thin.

ATTOM also notes that it expanded its property records in 2026, so changes in flip counts partly reflect wider coverage, not only market activity. The margin figures are the more reliable comparison.

Related: price cuts hit 20.8% of listings and the 10-year Treasury yield, which drives mortgage rates. For contractors carrying payroll between draws, see construction funding.

Sources: ATTOM Q2 2026 U.S. Home Flipping Report, CheckThisBiz. Implied prices and rehab ranges are our arithmetic from ATTOM's reported medians and methodology. This is market information, not investment advice.