California, Illinois and New Jersey continued to have the highest concentrations of at-risk housing markets during the first quarter, according to a data report from ATTOM.
The newly published Special Housing Risk Report analyzed first quarter statistics related to home affordability, underwater mortgages, foreclosures and unemployment. The data found California, Illinois and New Jersey had 34 of the 50 counties considered most exposed to potential drop-offs – these included six in and around Chicago, five in the New York City metropolitan area and 14 in areas of California, mostly away from the Pacific coast.
At the other end of the risk spectrum, 22 of the 50 markets considered least likely to decline were based in Virginia, Wisconsin and Tennessee. They included four each in the Washington, D.C., and Richmond metro areas.
“The patterns of varying market vulnerability that we’ve been seeing over the past few years are pretty much continuing in place, with some of the same areas falling out at opposite ends of the trend line,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “Once again, this is not to suggest that any one market is facing imminent decline. It’s more a measure of vulnerability gaps. But with the housing market slowing down over the past year, some metro areas appear notably better positioned than others to withstand a scenario of the market topping out and heading downward.”
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