The number of properties fixed and flipped in the third quarter was 7.2% of all home sales in the U.S., down 0.4% from the previous quarter, according to a report from real estate analytics company Attom.

Attom found that 74,618 U.S. single-family homes and condominiums were flipped in the third quarter, which accounted for 7.2% of total sales. The figure was below the number of properties flipped in the second quarter, but unchanged from last year’s third quarter. Attom reports that sales of flipped homes tend to spike in the spring and summer before decreasing in the fall.  

While the number of flips were in line with historic norms, profits were down for investors who buy, renovate and quickly resell homes. Attom’s data showed that those flipping homes generated an average return of 28.7% on their investments before expenses in the third quarter, down from an average return of 31.2% in the second quarter. The fall in returns came after six straight quarterly increases in returns for flippers.

The profit margins for flipped homes, which is the difference between the median purchase and the median resell price, peaked in 2016 at around 55%, according to Attom. In the past eight years, those margins have been cut in half. Today’s margins are also endangered by higher carrying costs, renovation expenses, mortgage payments and property taxes.

Gross profits for flipped homes decreased to about $70,000 in the third quarter, down roughly $5,000 from the previous quarter and $10,000 from 2022. However, the figure is up slightly from the third quarter of 2023.

Third-quarter home flips decreased as a portion of all home sales in 115 of 183 metropolitan areas around the country. However, flips were up annually in 95 areas. Among the cities analyzed, Georgia communities dominated the list of those with the highest percentage of flips during the quarter. Leading the way was Warner Robins, Georgia, a city outside Macon, where flips accounted for 22.7% of all home sales. Next was Macon, Georgia, where flips accounted for 16.8% of sales, followed by Atlanta with 13.6% of home sales being flips.

“Home flippers just can’t seem to shake the doldrums. After more than a year when things were getting better, they turned notably worse again over the summer,” said Attom CEO Rob Barber. “One quarter’s worth of numbers isn’t enough to make any grand statements about another downturn. The next six months should speak more to that, especially amid an ongoing tight housing market that should work in their favor. But as interest rates remain double what they were a few years ago and inflation keeps raising renovation costs, investors continue to have a tough time making the kind of profits that would lure more into the game.”