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.
The worst is yet to come from the coronavirus pandemic, said the commonwealth's revenue secretary, Dan Hassell.
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Brad Finkelstein is the originations editor of National Mortgage News. While he covers the entire process, Brad's specialty is loan production and its associated parts from lead development through secondary marketing.
Brad joined National Mortgage News in 1990 after working on the North Hempstead/Northeast Queens desk for This Week publications on Long Island and then as associate editor of the Airport Press, covering both passenger and cargo stations at the New York area airports. While part of the NMN family, Brad was the editor of its wholesale publications Broker Magazine and Origination News, and in those roles and now in his current role, coordinates the annual Top Producers survey. Brad is a past president of the New York Financial Writers Association.
- Awards — Among the awards he has won was as regional finalist for the Azbees in 2021 for Online - Online Breaking News Coverage for work in stories on the coronavirus pandemic's impact on the mortgage industry along with Paul Centopani and Bonnie Sinnock. The following year he was part of the regional finalist for Online - Online Single Topic Coverage by a Team for coverage of industry layoffs along with Bonnie Sinnock, Andrew Martinez and Maria Volkova.
- Education — He has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Urban Studies from Queens College. He also attended the graduate journalism program at New York University..
- Experience — In 1989, Brad was a reporter on the North Hempstead/Northeast Queens desk for This Week publications on Long Island, with primary coverage of the Great Neck and Little Neck areas. Between January and May 1990, he was associate editor of the Airport Press, covering both passenger and cargo stations at the New York area airports. Brad joined National Mortgage News in May 1990.
- Journalistic affiliations — Brad is a member of the New York Financial Writers Association, where he also served on the board of directors and as an officer of the organization for four years, culminating as president in 2004. Since then he has served on a number of NYFWA committees, including membership, Financial Follies and nominations.
Twitter: @NMNBrad
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.
