Illinois’ housing market is heading for trouble because of high taxes and the increasing abiility for high-income people to live wherever they want thanks to the pandemic-era increase in employers’ acceptance of telecommuting, a new study finds.
(The Center Square) – A report shows that several areas in Illinois are at risk for housing declines.
ATTOM, a real estate data company, said patterns based on home affordability, underwater mortgages, foreclosures and unemployment revealed Illinois contains several areas with vulnerable housing.
“Housing markets with poor affordability and relatively high rates of unemployment, underwater loans, and foreclosure activity could be at risk if we enter recession or even face a more modest downturn,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence.
One of the biggest clusters in the country was in the Chicago area, including Cook, DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties being listed as at-risk areas.
Sharga adds that since the pandemic, people can work from home so they can live where they want, thus abandoning high tax states like Illinois.
“Probably not a huge surprise that some of the higher cost, higher tax areas of the country, areas that have had a little bit of a population decline throughout the pandemic are areas that are possibly more at risk,” said Sharga.
The report said at least 10% of residential mortgages were underwater in the first quarter of 2022 in 22 of the 50 most at-risk counties. Those with the highest underwater rates include Peoria County, IL (20.6%), Rock Island County, IL (18.1%) and LaSalle County, IL (17.8%).
Amid the backdrop, the national median home value rose around 3% from late-2021 through early-2022, seller profits are starting to dip and home affordability is trending downward. Lender foreclosures against delinquent mortgages also are up.
The two other states with the highest concentration of vulnerable housing were California and New Jersey.
Originally published by The Center Square. Republished with permission.
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