Property data curator ATTOM released its Year-End 2024 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that home sellers made a $122,500 profit on typical sales nationwide in 2024, generating a 53.8 percent return on investment.
But even as both measures remained near record levels, and home prices kept rising around the country, the profit margin on median-priced sales nationwide decreased from 56.9 percent from 2023. The drop-off marked the second straight annual decline - a pattern of consecutive downturns that hadn’t happened since the aftermath of the Great Recession in the late 2000s.
While the gross profit on median-priced single-family home and condo sales did inch up about $2,000 from 2023, the typical profit margin stood eight percentage points below a peak hit in 2022.
The downward investment-return trend continued despite the median national home price rising 5 percent to yet another annual record of $350,000. Margins fell back as the increase in home values failed to keep up with larger price spikes recent sellers had been paying when they originally bought their homes.
“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. The renewed shine, however, didn’t come without a bit of tarnish as margins took another turn for the worse,” Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM, said in a release. “Amid the generally good news, that’s something worth following closely 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.”
The price-and-profit picture, while mixed, reflected an ongoing housing market boom that has continued for 13 years in a row. Last year’s scenario emerged as buyers buoyed by rising wages, a strong investment market and mostly receding mortgage interest rates competed for a historically tight supply of homes. Nevertheless, the resulting price gains weren’t quite enough to push profits upward, ATTOM said.
Among 127 metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 200,000 and sufficient sales data, sellers in more expensive markets around the U.S. generally reaped the highest returns on investment in 2024. Geographically, the Northeast, South and West regions led the way with 29 of the 30 highest returns on investment. They were led by San Jose, Calif. (105.8 percent return on investment); Knoxville, Tenn. (94.3 percent); Ocala, Fla. (87.1 percent); Seattle (85.6 percent) and Scranton, Pa. (85 percent).
After a weak annual gain of just 1.1 percent in 2023, the U.S. median home price increased another 4.9 percent in 2024, hitting the latest all-time high of $350,000. The typical 2024 price was almost two and a half times the nationwide median in 2011, a point in time right before the housing market began recovering from the Great Recession.
Amid the tight supply of properties for sale, median values went up last year in 115, or 91 percent, of the 127 metropolitan statistical areas around the U.S. reviewed for this report. Those with the biggest year-over-year increases were Evansville, Ind. (median up 13.4 percent); Augusta, Ga. (up 13.2 percent); Albany, N.Y. (up 12.3 percent); Fort Wayne, Ind. (up 12.2 percent) and Scranton, Pa. (up 12.1 percent).
The largest median-price increases in metro areas with a population of at least 1 million in 2024 came in Hartford Conn., (up 11.1 percent); New York (up 9.6 percent); Rochester, N.Y. (up 9.5 percent); Detroit (up 9.5 percent) and Providence, R.I. (up 9.4 percent).
Typical home prices last year reached or tied records in 108 of the metros analyzed (85 percent), including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D.C.
Metro areas where median prices dropped most in 2024 were Birmingham, Ala. (down 8.3 percent); Ocala, Fla. (down 5.9 percent); Fort Myers, Fla. (down 4.3 percent); Lakeland, Fla. (down 2.8 percent) and Sarasota, Fla. (down 2.7 percent).
The full report can be found here.