New Jersey and Florida account for almost half of the 50 U.S. counties whose housing markets are most vulnerable to the economic effects of the coronavirus, an Attom Data Solutions report said.
Attom ranked 483 counties across the country based on the percentage of housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in the fourth quarter, the number of underwater properties in each county and the percentage of local wages required to pay for major homeownership expenses.
Thirty-six of the top 50 most vulnerable counties had median home prices in the $160,000-to-$300,000 range, the report noted.
Of the 10 most vulnerable counties, six are in New Jersey, including Sussex at No. 1 and Warren at No. 2.
"It looks like the Northeast is more at risk than other areas," Todd Teta, Attom's chief product officer, said in a press release. "As we head into the spring home buying season, the next few months will reveal how severe the impact will be."
Among the New Jersey counties that would be most affected, five are in the New York metropolitan area: Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Middlesex and Union. However, of the four counties in New York that Attom considered to be most vulnerable, only Rockland was in proximity to New York City.
Richard Chambers is the CEO of Richard F. Chambers & Associates, a global advisory firm for internal audit professionals, and also serves as senior advisor of risk and audit at AuditBoard. Previously, he served for over a decade as the President and CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors, where he led the organization to record global membership and countless milestones. Prior to the IIA, Chambers was national practice leader in Internal Audit Advisory Services at PwC and vice president of the IIA's Learning Center.
Joe Nestlerode is a partner at Alpha FMC with over 28 years of industry experience in senior technology and business roles in the wealth management industry.
He has overseen large strategic engagements including M&A, advisor platform development, client portal design and development and capability optimizations across front-, middle- and back-office functions. Prior to joining Alpha FMC, he was a product and technology executive for the RIA, IBD and 1099 channels at Wells Fargo Advisors.
Garrett Oakley is a partner at Alpha FMC with nearly 15 years of experience in wealth and asset management.
Before joining Alpha FMC, he worked in the deal advisory and strategy practice at KPMG with a specialization in the retail wealth management space. Prior to that, he was financial advisor and held positions in fintech firms Betterment and LearnVest. He is a certified financial planner and a certified public accountant.
For New York City proper, all five boroughs were in the middle of the list: Staten Island was ranked 161, Queens was 271, Manhattan at 312, Brooklyn at 320 and the Bronx was 327.
Most of the Florida counties considered at risk are in the northern and central portions of the state. But Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, is also on that list.
There were four counties in the metro Chicago area on the list were Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will in Illinois. Cook County, which includes Chicago proper, is ranked 53rd most vulnerable.
Meanwhile, the only California county on the 50 most vulnerable list is Shasta. Los Angeles County was No. 276. The Bay Area counties were also in the bottom half of the list.
At the other end of the spectrum, 10 of the counties where the housing market is least vulnerable to the coronavirus are in Texas. Seven are in Wisconsin and there are five in Colorado.
King County in Washington, where Seattle is located, was the 20th least vulnerable county according to Attom.
