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Podcasts Take Two
Is 'house flipping' a boon or a warning sign?
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Jul 30, 2013
Listen • 8:22
Is 'house flipping' a boon or a warning sign?
As the economy boomed in the early 2000s, so did house flipping. But after the recession in 2008, the housing market flopped, and some analysts said that house flipping was a warning.
A mover from NorthStar Moving Corporation carries a cardboard box into a newly sold home in Central Los Angeles.
A mover from NorthStar Moving Corporation carries a cardboard box into a newly sold home in Central Los Angeles.
(
Christopher Okula/KPCC
)

As the economy boomed in the early 2000s, so did house flipping. But after the recession in 2008, the housing market flopped, and some analysts said that house flipping was a warning.

As the economy boomed in the early 2000s, so did the housing market and the buy-low, sell-high trend of house flipping. But after the recession in 2008, the housing market flopped, and some analysts said that house flipping was a sign that the residential market crash was inevitable.

The market might appear to have returned. The number of homes turned around in Southern California this past May almost reached the record high number from 2005.

Is this is a sign of economic recovery, or just a precursor to the market being ruined once again?

Raphael Bostic is a professor of public policy at USC and a former assistant secretary at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and joins Take Two to explain.