IRVINE, CA — Home sellers in 2024 saw their profit margins decline for the second consecutive year, even as national median home prices climbed to another record high of $350,000, according to ATTOM‘s Year-End 2024 U.S. Home Sales Report.
The average profit margin dropped to 53.8 percent, down from 56.9 percent in 2023 and well below the peak of 61.6 percent recorded in 2022. While the typical gross profit on a home sale rose slightly by $2,000 year-over-year to $122,500, the overall investment return continued its downward slide, reflecting a market increasingly pressured by high purchase costs for sellers and rising mortgage rates.
“After a weak 2023, the U.S. housing market mostly rebounded nicely in 2024. Prices went back up at a healthy clip and homeowners continued to make some of the best profits on sales in the past 25 years,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “The renewed shine, however, didn’t come without a bit of tarnish as margins took another turn for the worse.”
Barber also pointed to potential challenges in 2025. “Home prices are stretching household budgets more and more, and mortgage rates have been going back up in recent months even as other forces put more upward pressure on prices. So, there are certainly major factors that could propel the market up or settle it back down. Either will have a significant effect on seller returns,” he said.
Despite the overall drop, 91 percent of the 127 metropolitan areas analyzed recorded annual price increases, with Evansville, IN (up 13.4 percent), Augusta, GA (up 13.2 percent), and Albany, NY (up 12.3 percent) leading the gains. However, regions such as Birmingham, AL (down 8.3 percent) and Ocala, FL (down 5.9 percent) faced notable price declines.
Regionally, the best returns on investment were seen in the Northeast, South, and West, particularly in cities like San Jose, CA (105.8 percent ROI), Knoxville, TN (94.3 percent), and Ocala, FL (87.1 percent). Conversely, the South experienced the steepest declines, with Fayetteville, AR, dropping from 71.9 percent ROI in 2023 to 51.3 percent in 2024.
The report also highlighted several emerging trends, including an increase in all-cash sales, which reached their highest share since 2013 at 38.9 percent of transactions. Meanwhile, homeownership tenure rose to an average of 8.18 years, the longest since at least 2000.
While home sellers continued to profit handsomely in many parts of the country, ATTOM’s report underscores the mixed realities of a market grappling with fluctuating forces—big opportunities in some areas and pressures that threaten returns in others.
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