The housing markets most at risk to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic are on the East Coast and in northern Illinois, according to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions.
ATTOM’s report said the West had the fewest clusters of housing markets especially vulnerable because of the pandemic.
According to the report, a stretch of states running from Connecticut through Florida, plus Illinois, had 43 of the 50 counties most vulnerable to the economic impact of the pandemic. Those areas include 11 suburban counties around New York City, seven in the Chicago area, five around Washington, D.C. and four around Baltimore, Md.
The report said the only four western counties were in California.
ATTOM said markets are considered more or less at risk based on the percentage of homes facing possible foreclosure, the portion of homes with mortgage balances that exceed the estimated property value, and the percentage of local wages required to pay for major home ownership expenses.
“Home-sales data from around the country is starting to show that eight years of price gains may be coming to an end amid the economic damage flowing from the virus pandemic,” ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a release. “It’s still too early to make any definitive calls, but the latest numbers show storm clouds gathering over the market.
“With this second special report on the potential impact of the pandemic, we see pockets around the country that appear more or less poised to withstand downward pressure on prices and other market conditions,” Teta said. “Over the next few months, enough data should come in to tell us how things will most likely pan out.”
The counties in the New York metropolitan area considered most-at-risk were Bergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Sussex and Union counties in New Jersey, plus Nassau, Orange, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties in New York, the report found.
The Chicago-area counties were Cook, De Kalb, Du Page, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. The five counties most-at-risk near the District of Columbia are Charles, Prince George and Frederick in Maryland, and Spotsylvania and Stafford in Virginia.
ATTOM said four counties in the northeastern part of Maryland (Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil and Harford) were on the most-vulnerable list.
Five of Connecticut’s eight counties were on the list, including Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, Tolland and Windham counties. The California counties on the list were Humboldt, Madera, Riverside County and Shasta.