Seller Profits Hit High in 2022

Home sellers received a profit of $112,000 on average in 2022, the highest amount in at least 14 years.

According to ATTOM, this is up 21% from 2021’s profit of $92,500 and up 78% of 2020’s profit of $63,000. Year over year, home prices were up in 98% of housing markets. Sellers saw a 51.4% return on investment, up from 44.6% in 2021 and from 32.8% in 2020. This is the highest return on investment since at least 2008. Since 2011, home sellers have seen both their profits and their returns on investment improve each consecutive year. However, experts warn that this trend may break in 2023, as home prices have dipped slightly since reaching record highs in 2022. The site reported that the national median home value fell 8% in the second half of 2022, thanks in part to mortgage rates jumping to 7%.

Home prices reached $333,000 in 2022 and more than half of the U.S. saw prices rise 10% or more between 2021 and 2022. However, Pittsburgh had one of the smallest price growths, rising just 2.7% between 2021 and 2022. It’s no surprise then that profits in 90% of the country also grew. Raw profits rose above $100,000 in 50% of the nation.

Home sellers are staying in their homes for shorter periods too. According to the report, sellers owned their properties for 5.85 years on average in the fourth quarter of 2022, down from 5.96 years in the third quarter and down from 6.o5 years compared to the last quarter of 2021. In 72% of metro areas with a population of at least 200,000, seller tenure dropped.

All-cash sales saw a boost in 2022 as well. Thirty-six percent of all single-family home and condo sales were all-cash, the highest in nearly a decade. It’s up from 34.4% in 2021 and up from 22.7% in 2020. Foreclosures to lenders were at the lowest level since 2005, representing 1.2% of home sales in 2022, or one in every 87 sales. This is down 1.5% from 2021 and down 3.6% in 2020.