NYC sees marked increase in home flips

The Gretsch at 60 Broadway in Williamsburg, where a unit is asking 37 percent more than its $950,000 purchase price
The Gretsch at 60 Broadway in Williamsburg, where a unit is asking 37 percent more than its $950,000 purchase price

While high-end home flipping has slowed nationwide, it is on the rise again in New York City. More than 2,000 single-family homes were flipped, or purchased and resold within six months, in the New York metro area during the third quarter. 

That is a 14 percent increase from the same quarter last year, and flips priced above $750,000 grew 56 percent in the same period, according to RealtyTrac data cited by the New York Post.

“The continued flipping is a sign that New York is moving from distress to a more healthy market,” Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, told the Post.

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But experts say that today’s flipping isn’t the same as the rampant, and often reckless, turnovers that characterized the pre-recession housing boom. Today tight-fisted lending makes it difficult to buy on speculation, and many home flippers are paying all-cash for their investments.

“Credit being tight is part of the reality check here,” real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller said.  [NYP] Christopher Cameron