House flipping in California last year declined to its lowest level since 2003 as speculators retreated from a market in which sales plunged and prices flattened, a market tracker said Thursday, the Daily Breeze reports.
Homes owned for six months or less accounted for just 3.2 percent of resales last year, down from 4.2 percent in 2005 and 3.6 percent in 2004, according the San Juan Capistrano-based HomeSmartReports.com.
Overall, flippers sold the homes for a median $45,000 more than they paid, somewhat lower than $52,000 in 2005. If there were improvement costs, profit would be correspondingly lower.
