13 US housing markets where speculators are making a killing flipping homes

Flipping homes is on the rise according to real estate data tracking firm RealtyTrac.

This practice of buying a house, fixing it up, and then quickly selling it is a popular way to book a quick profit.

"After curtailing flipping activity last year due to slowing home price appreciation and shrinking inventory of flip-worthy homes, real estate investors have started to jump back on the flipping bandwagon in 2015," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

According to a RealtyTrac study, 43,197 homes were flipped during the third quarter, which accounted for 5% of all home sales in the US.

Additionally, flippers are seeing profits rise on the houses. Flippers averaged $62,122 in profits for the third quarter, which is up slightly from an average profit of $61,781 during the same quarter last year.

We took RealtyTrac's data and compiled a list of the top 13 counties in the US where flippers made more than 65% return on investment during the third quarter. The list is ranked from lowest return to highest and includes the average gross profit, purchase price for flippers and selling price.

Check them out below.