In the second quarter of this year, United States home sellers landed the highest profit of the last 10 years on the sale of their homes, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ REALTOR® Mag. U.S. home sellers earned an average of $51,000 more on the sale of their home compared to the amount they originally paid.
The $51,000 gain was the highest gain for home sellers since the second quarter of 2007, when home sellers earned $57,000, according to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions. 2017’s second quarter average profit meant home sellers earned an average 26 percent return on their initial home investment.
In Austin, Texas, the average home seller gained $66,597 on the sale of an Austin home in the second quarter of 2017. This was a 37.5 percent return on the initial investment.
San Jose, California and San Francisco, California had the highest gains at 75 percent and 65 percent. Seattle, Washington was third at 63 percent. Modesto, California was fourth with 62 percent, and Denver, Colorado was fifth at 62 percent.
The data also showed that sellers had owned these sold homes for an average of eight years. This was the longest time period since ATTOM Data Solutions began tracking the information in 2000. The duration may have helped boost the average profit and also may be indicative of home sellers’ reluctance to sell during the recession. A solid factor in the potential strength of the home market is that the percentage of home buyers paying all cash for homes increased this second quarter for the first time in four years.