People are calling out house flippers who took a $260,000 New York home and are now selling it for $1.2 million: 'HGTV absolutely ruined people's brains'

• Social-media users are discussing a New York home that hit the market for $1.2 million in June.
• Many people said they were shocked to discover the house originally sold for $260,000 in July 2020.

A New York home that originally sold for $260,000 was renovated and relisted at $1.2 million has sparked a discussion about affordability as the housing market falters.

A TikTok user uploaded a video on Tuesday of a single-family residence in Beacon, New York, that sold for $260,000 in June 2020. The 83-year-old residence initially had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, the video said.

@baviddoughy Excuse me what ….#greenscreen #fypシ #house #ny #home ♬ original sound - BavidDoughy

"This goes out to all the greedy, delusional house flippers and corporations in my area who are buying houses like this and doing too much," the TikToker said in the video, inviting users to guess how much the home cost.

The home was renovated before it was listed on the market again in June this year — but this time for an astronomical price. The house is listed on Zillow as a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home described as a "contemporary take on the classic 1940s cape cod commonly found in the Hudson Valley."

In comparison, the house next door is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom residence that sold for $377,000 in December 2020. Redfin's listing says that the median listing price for homes in that particular ZIP code is $550,000 and that the median sale price is $522,500.

TikTok users shared their shock about the price jump, with many commenting that their initial estimate was way off. The video later made it to Twitter, where it went viral and accumulated even more opinions.

—sean mcguire (@seanw_m) July 18, 2023

One person commented: "omfg at first I said $450k, then I saw the house after the flip and said $800k and I was very very wrong. We need serious home pricing regulations."

"HGTV absolutely ruined people's brains," another added.

The viral video comes as Americans grapple with a stumbling housing market. Insider's James Rodriguez reported that mortgage rates were high, that people weren't selling their homes, and that the housing market was steeped in competition — a phenomenon he dubbed the housing Ice Age.

The struggle reverberated across the industry, with house flippers in fall 2022 slashing property sale prices — meaning a potential loss in profits — or switching careers to become landlords. In June, Toorak Capital Partners told Insider that some house flippers were still seeing profits but that they were becoming pickier about which projects to pursue.