Las Vegas house flippers seeing increase in profits

Las Vegas house flippers are booking rising profits, although investors still make more money outside Southern Nevada, a new report shows.

Flips comprised 8.2 percent of Las Vegas-area home sales in the third quarter, above the national rate of 5.1 percent, according to housing tracker Attom Data Solutions.

Las Vegas’ share of flips was seventh-highest among the 90-plus metro areas listed in the report. Memphis, Tennessee, led the pack at 12 percent.

Attom, based in Irvine, California, defines a flip as selling a home within a year of buying it.

The company reported that Las Vegas-area flippers booked average gross profits of $59,503, giving them a 36.5 percent return on investment, in the three months ending Sept. 30. That’s compared with gross profits of $46,516, and a 30.4 percent return, in the same period last year.

Nationally, flippers booked average gross profits of $66,448 in the third quarter, for a 47.7 percent return, compared with $65,000 in gross profits and a 51.2 percent return a year earlier, Attom reported.

Those profits represent the sales price minus the purchase price and do not account for renovations or other costs the sellers may have incurred.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.