Check out the article about how California has 6 of the 10 counties nationwide with the highest risks of home-price declines.
California’s high-risk counties are less-populated regions to the north. Their prices may have been pushed out of economic balance by remote workers seeking cheaper homes to live in away from the Bay Area job hubs.
San Joaquin County was the nation’s riskiest of these 590 tracked by this math, with local house hunters needing 58% of local incomes to buy the $505,000 median-priced home. The county has 6.7% of mortgages underwater, 0.11% homes in the foreclosure process, and 7.2% unemployment. The other five high-risk markets from California:
No. 2 Merced: 49% income to buy $378,000, 6.5% underwater, 0.14% foreclosure, 11.6% unemployment.
No. 4 Madera: 53% income to buy $415,000 6% underwater, 0.13% homes foreclosure, 9% unemployment.
No. 5 Butte: 43% income to buy $340,000, 8.3% underwater, 0.12% foreclosure, 6.4% unemployment.
No. 9 Kings: 40% income to buy $310,000, 8.6% underwater, 0.1% homes foreclosure, 10.1% unemployment.
No. 10 Solano: 56% income to buy $553,000, 6.3% underwater mortgages, 0.1% homes in foreclosure, 5.3% unemployment.
Santa Clara County ranked No. 363 of the 590, the state’s best grade, with 57% of local incomes needed to buy the $1.45 million median home, 1.6% of loans underwater, 0.03% of homes in foreclosure, and 4.1% unemployment.
Second-lowest risk was No. 359 Imperial County – 43% income to buy a $331,000 home, 3.3% underwater, 0.01% foreclosure, 16.4% unemployment.