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46 | M REPORT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST DATA Southern U.S. Less Vulnerable to Q3 Housing Market Declines ATTOM data has found that Mid-Atlantic states, California, and Illinois were more vulnerable to housing market declines in the third quarter. A TTOM has issued a Special Housing Risk Report spotlighting county-level housing markets around the nation that are more or less vulnerable to declines, based on home afford- ability, foreclosures, and other measures in Q 3 of 2022. ATTOM's report shows that New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, and inland California continued to have the highest concentrations of the most at-risk markets in the country, with the biggest clusters in the New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia areas. Southern and Midwestern states remain less exposed. Q 3 patterns—based on gaps in home affordability, underwater mortgages, foreclosures, and un- employment—revealed that New Jersey, Illinois, and California had 28 of the 50 counties most vulnerable to potential declines. That was roughly the same as the 27 more-at-risk markets that were in those states in Q2 2022. During a time when the broader market boom slowed considerably, those concentrations still dwarfed other parts of the country. The 50 most at-risk included eight in and around New York City, seven in the Chicago metropolitan area, four in or near Philadelphia, and nine spread through northern, central, and southern California. The rest were clustered mainly in other parts of the East Coast, including all three counties in Delaware. "As the prospect of a possible recession hangs over the U.S. economy, counties in three of the seven largest metropolitan areas— New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia—are among the most vulnerable to a potential down- turn in their housing markets," said Rick Sharga, EVP of Market Intelligence at ATTOM. "These counties, and many more in Central California, share a num- ber of traits—poor affordability, relatively high unemployment and foreclosure rates, and homeown- ers who are underwater on their loans—which could spell trouble if the economy takes a turn for the worse." At the other end of the risk