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.
Shelley Brazeau Temple serves as President of Nationwide P&C Personal Lines. In this role, Shelley is responsible for all aspects of the Personal Lines Profit and Loss (P&L) segment including product, underwriting, sales and distribution, claims and service.
She most recently served as Nationwide P&C Senior Vice President and Chief Claims and Operations Officer. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President of Member Solutions, leading the company’s insurance servicing and billing operations and direct phone sales organization.
Other leadership positions she has held are:
- Regional Vice President of Nationwide’s South Central Operations, responsible for sales, pricing, underwriting and product in a six-state geography, and managing a more than $660 million in sales revenue through exclusive agents and direct sales.
- VP of Strategy and Operational Effectiveness for Customer Service and Direct Sales of Nationwide, developing and executing an innovative contact center strategy.
- VP of Personal Lines Service Operations, responsible for personal lines service and processing center operations.
Shelley began her career at Nationwide as a Claims associate 27 years ago. Her increased responsibilities in leadership positions throughout the years also led her to work with internal audits, product and agency sales.
Shelley holds a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriting (CPCU) designation. She has served on several non-profit boards, including Ronald McDonald Children's Charities and the American Lung Association of the Midland States with participation in development, audit/finance and executive committees.
As an accounting professional, these are tough days. But that doesn’t mean your practice can’t grow during this season.
Adam Tarnow is the founder of Tarnow & Company, a business development consulting firm focused on accountants and other professional service providers. He can be reached at Adam@TarnowCompany.com.
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.
