Home sellers in the second quarter of this year sold their properties for an average $51,000 more than they paid for them when they bought them. That’s the highest price gain for sellers since the second quarter of 2007, when it was $57,000, according to a new report by real estate data form ATTOM Data Solutions. This represents an average return on investment of 26 percent.

The sellers had owned their homes an average of eight years, which is the longest tenure of homeownership since the first quarter of 2000, when ATTOM Data Solutions began tracking such data. However, “potential home sellers in today’s market are caught in a Catch-22,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. “While it’s the most profitable time to sell in a decade, it’s also extremely difficult to find another home to purchase, which is helping to keep homeowners in their homes longer before selling. And the market is becoming even more competitive, with the share of cash buyers in the second quarter increasing annually for the first time in four years.”

Out of 118 metro areas with at least 1,000 homes sales in the second quarter, ATTOM Data Solutions found that these cities had the highest percentage of sales in which sellers got top dollar:

• San Jose, Calif.: 75%


• San Francisco: 65%


• Seattle: 63%


• Modesto, Calif.: 62%


• Denver: 62%

Source: RealtyTrac/ATTOM Data Solutions