Home seller profits hit 15-year high as 97% of markets set records

As home prices surged in 2020 due to shrinking inventory and raging demand, sellers received the highest returns on investment since at least 2005, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Housing prices grew by double digits in the majority of U.S. markets, driving up the median home prices by 12.8% for the year to a new high of $266,250. This marked the largest annual gain since at least 2006 and nearly tripled 2019’s rate of 4.4%.

About 97% of the markets tracked saw substantial price increases. For the 132 metro areas with populations over 200,000, 129 climbed to new highs and 69 jumped by more than 10% year-over-year. The largest gains came in Bridgeport, Conn., at 21.4%, Myrtle Beach, S.C., at 20.5% and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach, Fla., at 19.6%.

Homeowners who sold cashed in an average of $68,843 — the highest amount since Attom started tracking. That’s an ROI of 34.7% compared to their original prices paid. Those figures rose from $53,700 and 29.4% the year prior and from 2011’s nadir of -$38,800 and -21%.

The widest profit margins at the metro level came from San Jose, Calif., with an 87.3% ROI. Seattle followed with 72.1%, then came Salem, Ore., at 69.6%.

In the last year, "demand remained strong as people who could afford the space and relative safety of single-family homes did just that, aided by super-low mortgage rates and a strong stock market," Todd Teta, Attom’s chief product officer said in the report. "But they went after a narrowing supply of housing stock, so prices soared and so did seller profits. While it's unclear how long that will last, in the annals of history, there will be few years recorded as better for sellers and more challenging for buyers."

Seller profits have now increased for nine straight years and could rise again with vaccine distributions and stimulus packages expected to make purchases strong in 2021.