House flipping in South Florida increased only 8 percent in 2013 from 2012, after a 94 percent increase from 2011 to 2012.

After house flipping increased dramatically from 2012 to 2013, the act of buying a home and quickly reselling it for profit in South Florida is beginning to lose momentum, according to a recent report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

In 2011, 1,702 single-family homes were flipped, according to the report, which adds that RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based real estate information company, defines a flipped property as one that is resold within six months of purchase.

The number of single-family homes flipped in South Florida in 2012 surged to 3,306, a 94 percent increase and more than double the amount flipped in 2011. However, the number flipped homes homes increased only eight percent in 2013 from the prior year, amounting to 3,554 flipped single-family homes.

Emilio Palomo, broker-owner of Riteway Properties III in Miami, told Miami Agent that the appeal of home flipping isn’t shrinking; the fact is there are less foreclosures than in previous years, and that means some investors are left without properties that are well-suited for home flipping.

“We definitely have a slowdown, and I believe it is because we have a lot less foreclosures,” Palomo said. “That’s where some of those [house flippings] were being made – buying straight from the bank and being able to flip it right away, whether small or large property. Because we have less foreclosures, I think that really has something to do with less flipping.”

Palomo’s observation aligns with the findings of a report from CoreLogic that Miami Agent recently wrote about. According to the report, 6.7 percent of Florida’s mortgaged properties were in foreclosure in December, the highest percentage in the country. However, that number is down 35 percent from Dec. 2012, when 10.3 percent of Florida’s mortgaged properties were in foreclosure.