House flipping declines in Utah as profitability tanks

Data: ATTOM ; Note: A flip is defined as any transaction between an unrelated buyer and seller within 12 months of a previous transaction; Chart: Axios Visuals

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.

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• 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%.

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