The post-pandemic housing market has been remarkably stable. The number of foreclosures and seriously underwater mortgages has remained low. According to ATTOM Data Solutions’ latest Special Housing Risk Report, that stability continued during the first quarter of this year. The report looked at where the healthiest and most at-risk housing markets are across the country using county-level data, including the percentage of homes facing foreclosure, the portion of seriously underwater mortgages, the percentage of average local wages required to pay homeownership expenses on a median-priced home, and local unemployment rates. Rob Barber, ATTOM’s CEO, says the results show how individual markets are performing. “There’s no unequivocal metric that can tell you where it’s safe to buy and where it’s risky,” Barber said. “But taken together these data points show how different parts of the country are performing” What it found was the most at-risk housing markets are located in just a few regions, with California and New Jersey accounting for 23 of the 50 riskiest markets. The South, on the other hand, was home to the strongest markets, with 27 of the 50 least at-risk markets. (source)
