The firm’s recent data showed just 3.66 percent of home sales in the five major neighborhoods were flips during the first quarter. The percent dropped  from 12.39 in the first quarter of 2013. “Even though there are a lot of distressed properties [on the market], there’s not as much margin for them to work with, in terms of home prices rising quickly,” said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.

Broken down by borough, RealtyTrac data shows that 2.31 percent of Bronx sales were flips; 1.3 percent of sales were flips in Brooklyn; 7.69 percent of sales were flips in Manhattan; 2.75 percent of sales were flips in Queens and 8.39 percent of sales were flips in Staten Island. Nationwide, the percentage of single-family home sales that were flips dropped to 3.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with 6.5 percent a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac. In general, flipping is down nationwide because there are fewer distressed properties on the market as home prices have increased, after bottoming out in March 2012, Blomquist said.

But what is the reason behind this not so great news for New York flippers? Two statistics will help us understand this.

1. The average sales price for NYC residential real estate (co-ops, condos and 1-3 family sales) reached a record $975,441.

2. The average sales price for NYC residential real estate excluding Manhattan reached a record $542,216.

Record sales? This is great news for home owners. With confidence in the market being back up, home owners now feel like they can get more for their homesteads, and they are right.

In contrast, flipping reached a low point in the first quarter of 2012, when 1.27 percent of sales were flips – a reflection of investors’ lack of confidence.

Don’t count the Big Apple out yet though. There are still deals to be found in neighborhoods like Harlem or parts of Brooklyn. There’s ample flipping at trophy apartments, particularly in new development buildings, where the mentality of “the more you spend, the more you make” exists. Go big or go home, right?

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