Home Selling Profits Down in 2024 Despite Price Gains

Home sellers made a $122,500 profit on typical sales nationwide in 2024, generating a 53.8% return on investment, according to new data from ATTOM. However, the profit margin on median-priced sales nationwide was down from 56.9% in 2023, the second straight annual decline and the first consecutive downturn since the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession.

ATTOM also noted the gross profit on median-priced single-family home and condo sales inched up by about $2,000 from 2023 while the typical profit margin stood eight percentage points below the 2022 peak hit.

The median home price increased year-over-year by 4.9% percent in 2024, reaching a new record high of $350,000. Amid the tight supply of properties for sale, median values went up last year in 115, or 91%, of the 127 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed by ATTOM. All-cash purchases accounted for 38.9%, or about one of every three, of the single-family home and condo sales in 2024, the highest level since 2013.

“After a weak 2023, the US housing market mostly rebounded nicely in 2024,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “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. Amid the generally good news, that’s something worth following closely in 2025.”

Barber added that “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.”