ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database and first property data provider of Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), recently released a report focusing on the housing level in several counties in the United States. According to the report, the housing market in some counties are more or less likely to be impacted by COVID-19, more commonly known as coronavirus. The report indicated that the counties most likely to be impacted by the pandemic are located in the eastern region of the United States, specifically New Jersey and Florida. The housing markets in western and midwestern counties are the least likely to be impacted greatly by the virus.
The report further explained that out of the 21 counties in New Jersey, 14 of them are on the top 50 list of most vulnerable counties in the country. This means that over half of the counties in New Jersey are among the most likely to have a large economic impact due to coronavirus. Other counties included in the top 50 list include four New York counties, three Connecticut counties and 10 Florida counties. Only one county from California made the list while no other counties on the West Coast appeared in the top 50. Only two counties in the Midwest made the list, both of which are in Illinois.
Almost half of the most vulnerable counties reside in either New Jersey or Florida. Five of the New Jersey counties fall in the New York City suburban area, while all 10 Florida counties are located in the northern and central areas of the southern state. Other East Coast counties to make the list belong to Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana and Virginia.
To determine which areas were more or less at risk, the percentage of housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in the fourth quarter of 2019 was considered. Other factors include the percent of homes with a loan-to-value-ratio of 100 or greater and the percentage of local wages required to pay for major homeownership expenses. These three indicators were used to compare almost 500 counties across the country. These counties were then ranked from lowest to highest to form a complete report.
“It’s too early to tell how much effect the Coronavirus fallout will have on different housing markets around the country,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “But the impact is likely to be significant from region to region and county to county. What we’ve done is spotlight areas that appear to be more or less at risk based on several important factors. From that analysis, it looks like the Northeast is more at risk than other areas. As we head into the Spring home-buying season, the next few months will reveal how severe the impact will be.”
Amongst the 483 counties compared in the report, Texas had 10 counties in the top 50 least likely to be impacted list. Wisconsin also had several counties to make the least likely to be impacted list with seven, followed by Colorado with five. Several of the least at-risk counties have a population of less than 500,000, however, 18 of the 50 counties surpass that population.
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