Since the pandemic housing boom faded, house flippers have struggled to turn a profit as soaring prices and higher borrowing costs squeezed margins. But new data from ATTOM suggests the market for flipping may finally be improving. The property data firm's latest report found the typical return on a flipped home rose from 24.7 percent to 25.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026, marking the first increase after seven straight quarters of declining profits. Investors snatched up and flipped 64,348 homes this quarter, representing 8 percent of all home sales. 'The first increase in flipping returns in nearly two years is a welcome sign for investors,' said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. 'The market remains far more competitive than it was during the peak profit years, but this quarter's gains suggest that conditions may be stabilizing. Success still depends heavily on local market dynamics, with some metros producing strong returns while others remain difficult places to flip profitably.' Even as profits edged higher, flipping activity continued to slow. Investors appear to be doing fewer deals, even as returns stabilize, compared to the previous year.

In fact, flips fell to 64,348, down about 8 percent quarter over quarter and nearly 9 percent year over year. The market with the highest share of home flipping was Columbus, Georgia, where flipped properties accounted for 15.2 percent of all home sales. Atlanta and Canton, Ohio, each followed at 12.3 percent, while York, Pennsylvania (12.2 percent) and Spartanburg, South Carolina (12.1 percent) rounded out the top five. Pittsburgh delivered the strongest home flipping returns among major metro areas, with an average profit margin of 85.9 percent.

Buffalo followed at 84 percent, ahead of Virginia Beach (74.9 percent), Baltimore (65.9 percent) and Philadelphia (62 percent). But Texas' red-hot housing boom appears to be running out of steam. Just a few years after Texas became a magnet for homebuyers and real estate investors during the pandemic, the state's largest cities are now producing some of the slimmest flipping profits in America. Austin ranked last among major metros with a typical return of just 2 percent, while Dallas, San Antonio and Houston also landed near the bottom of ATTOM's rankings.

Another surprising finding in the report was that the cheapest homes were often the worst investments. Properties originally purchased for less than $50,000 typically lost money, with flippers seeing a median loss of 14 percent. Instead, the biggest returns came from homes bought for between $100,000 and $200,000, which generated a typical profit margin of 32 percent. The report also found that flipping homes is taking longer. The typical project lasted 165 days in the first quarter, up from 160 days at the end of 2025, suggesting investors are spending more time renovating properties or waiting for buyers.

Despite tighter margins, cash remains king. More than six in 10 flipped homes were purchased outright without financing, underscoring how difficult the market has become for smaller investors relying on loans. Those homes are also taking longer to flip, with buyers holding for an average of 165 days, five days longer than last quarter. The report also found that fewer flipped homes are ending up in the hands of first-time buyers. Just 10.2 percent of flipped homes were sold to buyers using FHA-backed mortgages in the first quarter, down from 11.7 percent a year earlier. Because FHA loans are popular with first-time and lower-down-payment buyers, the decline suggests flipped homes may be becoming less accessible to those purchasers.