Home Sales Profits Tick Up in Q2 2025 Despite Year-Over-Year Decline

Carline Douze
Sep 30, 2025
2 min read

Home sellers in the U.S. saw modest gains in the second quarter of 2025, with the typical profit margin rising slightly to 50%—up from 48.9% in Q1 but still below the 55.6% recorded in Q2 2024. According to ATTOM’s latest Q2 2025 U.S. Home Sales Report, this uptick occurred as national home prices surged to a new record high of $369,000.

Despite the price growth, sellers earned a median raw profit of $123,000 in Q2, marking a 5.6% drop from $127,990 a year ago. The report highlights a market where home values continue to climb, but profit margins are squeezed by long-term price inflation and changing market dynamics.

Profit Margins Mixed Across Metro Areas

Quarter-over-quarter, profit margins rose in nearly half of analyzed metro areas but declined annually in almost 80% of them. Markets with the steepest annual drops included Ocala, FL; Knoxville, TN; and Sarasota, FL. Meanwhile, the biggest annual profit margin gains came in Hilo, HI; Kalamazoo, MI; and Flint, MI.

Among the largest metros (pop. >1 million), San Jose, CA led with a 101.2% profit margin. In contrast, sellers in New Orleans, LA, and major Texas metros like San Antonio and Houston saw profit margins below 35%.

Sales Prices Surge, But Raw Profits Lag

While 90% of metro markets saw quarter-over-quarter gains in median home prices, raw profits still fell in two-thirds of areas. Jacksonville, FL and Austin, TX experienced the largest annual raw profit declines, while Honolulu, HI and Chicago, IL led the gains.

The highest dollar profits from sales were concentrated in California markets—San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego—while Southern cities such as New Orleans and Birmingham reported the lowest.

Homeowners Holding On Longer

The average homeownership tenure climbed to 8.18 years, the highest in at least 25 years. This trend was most pronounced in markets like Barnstable, MA and Santa Cruz, CA, where average tenure exceeded 13 years.

Other Q2 2025 Market Insights

Lender-owned sales: Dropped to 1.3% of all sales nationwide.
All-cash sales: Declined to 38.9% nationally, with the highest shares in Myrtle Beach, SC and Hilo, HI.
Institutional investor purchases: Fell to 5.7%, down from 6.5% in Q2 2024.
FHA-financed purchases: Held steady at 8.3%, with the highest shares in California metros like Merced and Bakersfield.

Conclusion

While profit margins remain healthy by historical standards, the combination of rising prices and falling raw profits indicates a more competitive and nuanced market environment. “Even with record-breaking prices, seller profits haven’t surged,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “But 50% profit