ATTOM Identifies Areas with Highest Concentration of ‘At-Risk’ Markets

(Illustration: A residential street in New Jersey. Courtesy of Ibrahim Boran/pexels.com)

California, New Jersey and Illinois have high concentrations of at-risk markets–with parts of Florida joining that mix–according to ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif.

Less-vulnerable markets continued to be clustered in the south, ATTOM said in its Special Housing Risk Report, which spotlights county-level housing markets around the country that are more or less vulnerable to declines.

The third-quarter patterns–derived from gaps in affordability, underwater mortgages foreclosures and unemployment–revealed that two-thirds of the 50 counties around the U.S. considered most exposed to potential fallbacks were in California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey. Florida was a new addition to that group in the third quarter after earlier periods when it had fewer markets making the list of areas at elevated risk of downturns.

At the other end of the risk spectrum, more than half the markets considered least likely to decline were in Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Montana and New Hampshire, ATTOM found.

“The recent market risk patterns changed a bit in the third quarter, with some new areas making the list of places more or less exposed to downfalls. But the big picture remained pretty much the same around the country as differences in important metrics helped produce varying pockets of vulnerability,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said. “As with past reports, this one is not meant to suggest any given area is about to fall or is immune from problems. Rather, it spotlights locations that look to be more or less able to withstand significant changes in market conditions. We will continue to keep a close watch on markets throughout the country to see how things track.”