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HOUSING MARKETS FACING GREATER RISK OF DECLINE CONCENTRATED IN CALIFORNIA, NEW JERSEY, ILLINOIS AND FLORIDA

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HOUSING MARKETS FACING GREATER RISK OF DECLINE CONCENTRATED IN CALIFORNIA, NEW JERSEY, ILLINOIS AND FLORIDA


New York City and Chicago Areas More Vulnerable to Drop-offs Along with Inland California; South Still Faces Relatively Small Exposure;

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its latest Special Housing Market Impact Risk Report spotlighting county-level housing markets around the United States that are more or less vulnerable to declines, based on home affordability, equity and other measures in the third quarter of 2024. The report shows that California, New Jersey and Illinois once again had high concentrations of the most-at-risk markets in the country, with parts of Florida also joining that mix. Less-vulnerable markets continued to be clustered in the South region of the nation.

The third-quarter patterns – derived from gaps in affordability, underwater mortgages, foreclosures and unemployment – revealed that two-thirds of the 50 counties around the U.S. considered most exposed to potential fallbacks were in California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey. Florida was a new addition to that group in the third quarter after earlier periods when it had fewer markets making the list of areas at elevated risk of downturns.

County-level housing markets on the latest list included six in and around Chicago, IL, five in or near New York City and four in southern New Jersey. Another 13 were in California, mostly inland from the Pacific coast. The rest were scattered largely around the Northeast, South and Midwest.

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At the other end of the risk spectrum, more than half the markets considered least likely to decline fell in Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Montana and New Hampshire. They included four in the Washington, DC, area.

The latest gaps come as the nation’s 13-year housing-market boom, along with the broader economy, continue to affect different parts of the country in different ways.

An almost unrelenting increase in home prices has surpassed most wage gains around the country to varying degrees. That has led to home ownership costs consuming more than triple the portion of average wages in some parts of the country compared to others. Similar disparities can be found in several other measures: unemployment rates, the level of homeowners facing foreclosure and the portion owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

“The recent market risk patterns changed a bit in the third quarter, with some new areas making the list of places more or less exposed to downfalls. But the big picture remained pretty much the same around the country as differences in important metrics helped produce varying pockets of vulnerability,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “As with past reports, this one is not meant to suggest any given area is about to fall or is immune from problems. Rather, it spotlights locations that look to be more or less able to withstand significant changes in market conditions. We will continue to keep a close watch on markets throughout the country to see how things track.”

Counties were considered more or less at risk based on the percentage of homes facing possible foreclosure, the portion with mortgage balances that exceeded estimated property values, the percentage of average local wages required to pay for major home ownership expenses on median-priced single-family homes and local unemployment rates. The conclusions were drawn from an analysis of the most recent home affordability, equity and foreclosure reports prepared by ATTOM. Unemployment rates came from federal government data. Rankings were based on a combination of those four categories in 578 counties around the United States with sufficient data to analyze in the third quarter of 2024. Counties were ranked in each category, from lowest to highest, with the overall conclusion based on a combination of the four ranks. See below for the full methodology.

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Significant differences in risk continue around the U.S. at a time when market forces could combine to push home values up even further or tamp them down.

Vulnerable housing markets clustered around Chicago, New York City and inland California
The metropolitan areas around New York, NY, and Chicago, IL, as well as broad swaths of California, had 24 of the 50 U.S. counties considered most vulnerable in the third quarter of 2024 to housing market troubles. The counties were among 578 around the nation with enough data to analyze.

The most at-risk counties included Cook, Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois and Lake County in Indiana, two in New York City (Kings County, which covers Brooklyn, and New York County, which covers Manhattan) and three in the New York City suburbs (Essex, Passaic and Sussex counties, all in northern New Jersey).

Another 13 were in California: Butte County (Chico), Contra Costa County (outside Oakland), El Dorado County (outside Sacramento), Humboldt County (Eureka) and Solano County (outside Sacramento) in the northern part of the state, plus Kern County (Bakersfield), Kings County (outside Fresno), Madera County (outside Fresno), Merced County, San Joaquin County (Stockton) and Stanislas County (Modesto) in central California. Two others, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, were in southern California.

Worse levels of affordability, underwater mortgages, foreclosures and unemployment continue in most-at-risk markets
Major home-ownership costs (mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance) on median-priced single-family homes and condos were considered seriously unaffordable in 30 of the 50 counties deemed most vulnerable to market drop-offs in the third quarter of 2024. That means those expenses consumed at least 43 percent of average local wages. Nationwide, major expenses on typical homes sold in the third quarter required 34 percent of average local wages, a level also above basic affordability benchmarks.

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The highest percentages in the most at-risk markets were in Kings County (Brooklyn), NY (108 percent of average local wages needed for major ownership costs); Riverside County, CA (70.2 percent); El Dorado County, CA (outside Sacramento) (66.3 percent); Passaic County, NJ (outside New York City) (65.9 percent) and New York County (Manhattan), NY (65.1 percent).

At least 6 percent of residential mortgages were underwater in the third quarter of 2024 in 23 of the 50 most-at-risk counties. Nationwide, 5.5 percent of mortgages fell into that category, with homeowners owing more on their mortgages than the estimated value of their properties. Those with the highest underwater rates among the 50 most at-risk counties were St. Clair County, IL (outside St. Louis, MO) (15 percent underwater); Tangipahoa Parish, LA (east of Baton Rouge) (13.7 percent); Pinal County, AZ (outside Phoenix) (12.4 percent); Philadelphia County, PA (11.9 percent) and Marion County, FL (outside Gainesville) (11 percent).

More than one of every 1,000 residential properties faced a foreclosure action in the third quarter of 2024 in 35 of the 50 most vulnerable counties. Nationwide, one in 1,618 homes were in that position. The highest foreclosure-case rates in those counties were in Charlotte County (Punta Gorda), FL (one in 449 residential properties facing possible foreclosure); Osceola County, FL (outside Orlando) (one in 473); Dorchester County, SC (outside Charleston) (one in 509); Cumberland County (Vineland), NJ (one in 571) and Warren County, NJ (outside Allentown, PA) (one in 574).

The August 2024 unemployment rate was at least 5 percent in 34 of the 50 most at-risk counties, while the nationwide figure stood at 4.2 percent. The highest rates were in Merced County, CA (9.1 percent); Kern County (Bakersfield), CA (8.7 percent); Kings County, CA (outside Fresno) (8.2 percent); Cumberland County (Vineland), NJ (7.7 percent) and Madera County, CA (outside Fresno) (7.4 percent).

South has largest portion of counties least at risk
Twenty-two of the 50 counties considered least vulnerable to housing market problems from among the 578 reviewed in the third-quarter report were in the South. Another 13 were in Midwest, followed by 11 in the Northeast and just four in the West.

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Tennessee had eight of the least at-risk counties in the third quarter: They included Rutherford and Williamson counties in the Nashville metro area, Blount and Knox County in the Knoxville metro area, Hamilton County (Chattanooga), Bradley County (outside Chattanooga), Sullivan County (Kingsport) and Washington County (Johnson City).

Wisconsin had seven. They were Brown County (Green Bay), Outagamie County (outside Green Bay), Dane County (Madison), Rock County (outside Madison), Eau Claire County, La Crosse County and Winnebago County (Oshkosh).

Less-vulnerable counties aided by better market conditions
Major ownership costs on median-priced single-family homes and condos were seriously unaffordable in only 17 of the 50 counties that were considered least vulnerable to market problems in the third quarter of 2024 (compared to 30 of the most at-risk counties).

The lowest portions of wages required for home ownership were in Potter County (Amarillo), TX (19.1 percent); Oswego County, NY (outside Syracuse) (21.8 percent); Sullivan County (Kingsport), TN (25.9 percent); Shawnee County (Topeka), KS (26.5 percent) and Madison County (Huntsville), AL (26.9 percent).

More than 6 percent of residential mortgages were underwater in the third quarter of 2024 (with owners owing more than their properties were worth) in only one of the 50 least-at-risk counties. Those with the lowest rates were Chittenden County (Burlington), VT (0.8 percent underwater); Loudoun County, VA (outside Washington, DC) (1.6 percent); Rockingham County (Portsmouth), NH (1.9 percent); Henrico County (Richmond), VA (2 percent) and Hillsborough County (Manchester), NH (2 percent).

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More than one in 1,000 residential properties faced a foreclosure action during the third quarter of 2024 in none of the least-at-risk counties. Those with the lowest rates were Yellowstone County (Billings), MT (one in 72,252 residential properties faced possible foreclosure); Missoula County, MT (one in 55,084); Berkeley County (Martinsburg), WV (one in 25,646); Medina County, OH (outside Akron) (one in 18,785) and Chittenden County (Burlington), VT (one in 18,302).

The August 2024 unemployment rate was less than the national level of 4.2 percent in 48 of the 50 least-at-risk counties. The lowest rates among those counties were in Dane County (Madison), WI (2.1 percent); Chittenden County (Burlington), VT (2.1 percent); La Crosse County, WI (2.2 percent); Outagamie County, WI (2.3 percent) and Cumberland County (Portland) ME (2.3 percent).

Report methodology
The ATTOM Special Market Impact Report is based on ATTOM’s third-quarter 2024 residential foreclosure, home affordability and underwater property reports, plus August 2024 unemployment figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Press releases for affordability, foreclosure and underwater-property reports show the methodology for each.) Counties with sufficient data to analyze were ranked based on the third-quarter percentage of residential properties with a foreclosure filing, the percentage of average local wages needed to afford the major expenses of owning a median-priced home and the percentage of properties with outstanding mortgage balances that exceeded their estimated market values, along with August 2024 county-level unemployment rates. Ranks then were added up to develop a composite ranking across all four categories. Equal weight was given to each category. Counties with the lowest composite rank were considered most vulnerable to housing market problems. Those with the highest composite rank were considered least vulnerable.

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data and analytics that power a myriad of solutions that improve transparency, innovation, digitization and efficiency in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloudbulk file licensesproperty data APIsreal estate market trendsproperty navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications – AI-Ready Solutions.

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com

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Data and Report Licensing:
datareports@attomdata.com

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What to know about Freedom Fuel Network as Trump urges cheaper gas prices in Pennsylvania, NJ

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What to know about Freedom Fuel Network as Trump urges cheaper gas prices in Pennsylvania, NJ


PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — There are 25 new Freedom Fuel Network gas stations opening across the Philadelphia area and South Jersey as Americans closely watch gas prices.

This comes after President Trump announced the privately-owned network on social media last week, saying it will help drivers save money at the pump.

There are 25 new Freedom Fuel gas stations opening across the Philadelphia area and South Jersey as Americans closely watch gas prices.

The first location in Dresher, Montgomery County, opened on Friday, with the price of $3.47 per gallon.

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This cost was a nod to President Trump serving as the nation’s 47th president.

However, that price has already started to rise after the president announced new U.S. strikes, sending oil and gas prices higher.

Some of those locations with gas stations participating in the Freedom Fuel Network include Lansdowne, Bensalem and Pottstown in Pennsylvania; and Marlton in New Jersey.

Gas Calculator: Find out how much it costs to fill your tank

A White House official told ABC News the administration is not involved with the company and is not providing any funding or subsidies.

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Instead, the company says it is cutting its own profit margins to offer lower prices.

Some drivers are applauding this move while others, including gas analysts, are skeptical.

“$3.47 a gallon is a Godsend, honestly,” said one consumer. “Great price because this was a Sunoco before and prices were a lot higher.”

“I want Americans to be asking, ‘Where is that money coming from? Why are corporations and businesses willing to subsidize gas 50-cents a gallon for people, to make President Trump look good,” said another consumer.

Trump is also encouraging other gas retailers to lower their prices. He has not identified the company behind Freedom Fuel, saying only that it’s a private retailer.

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Action News is still working to learn how long these lower prices will last and whether more stations will open.

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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7 On Your Side helps man recover his stolen iPhone from safe pickup site

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7 On Your Side helps man recover his stolen iPhone from safe pickup site


JAMESBURG, New Jersey (WABC) — When it comes to home deliveries, having your order stolen right off your doorstep can be infuriating, so one New Jersey man did it right.

Peter Tsistinas had his brand-new cell phone delivered to a so-called safe pickup site, designated by the seller, where it was stolen.

Delivery services can drop off your item at any number of safe locations, where you can later pick up your order. But as exclusive video obtained by 7 On Your Side shows, porch pirates are upping their game.

Captured on a security camera, a man calmly walks into the CVS store, asks for a delivery, shows an ID, signs for it, and walks off with a brand-new iPhone. There’s just one problem.

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“They saw somebody that was not me getting my package,” said Tsistinas when asked what the police were seeing on the tape.

The real Peter, a popular DJ for hire, was dumbfounded. He chose the safe drop to avoid being porch pirated, but the thief still got the goods.

“Yeah, I actually paid extra for it. It wasn’t much. It was $7.99,” Tsistinas said.

Tsistinas got a notification from UPS that the phone was dropped off at 12:39 p.m., less than two hours later, he got a notice it was picked up.

But Tsistinas didn’t pick it up. It was the unknown suspect who went into the CVS, walking off with the brand-new iPhone for Peter’s son.

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Tsistinas reported the crime to the police and alerted UPS, CVS and T-Mobile, which shipped the smartphone. The response to the DJ was what he called, “crickets.”

“I was watching, you know ABC News, and I saw 7 On Your Side and I’m like, ‘you know, you’re the first thing I thought of,’” Tsistinas said

7 On Your Side reached out to both CVS and the cell phone provider.

Within a week, T-Mobile responded, saying, “Our care team is working with Mr. Tsistinas directly to get him the device he ordered from us, and we’re working closely with CVS and our other partners to further protect our customers’ orders from theft. Our dedicated fraud, crime and logistics teams collaborate with vendors to address these issues and improve delivery processes.”

CVS also sent 7 On Your Side an official statement, saying, “We’ve connected with the customer and apologized for his experience. T-Mobile is now working directly with Mr. Tsistinas to help resolve the matter. Anyone picking up a UPS package at CVS Pharmacy must present identification matching the person and name on the package to be released. We’re working with the store team to help prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.”

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After weeks of back and forth with the companies, Tsistinas could finally focus on his beats again.

“I paid almost $500 in deposit, and then it was going to be like so much per month. So, they just squashed all that,” Tsistinas said.

Referencing the Rolling Stones, he says he not only got his satisfaction, but also his money back.

“Nina, you’re the best!” Peter said.

Police are still looking for the suspect in the video and say he’s part of a crime ring. If you recognize him, call Jamesburg police in New Jersey.

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Do you have an issue with a company that you haven’t been able to resolve? If so, 7 On Your Side wants to help you!

Fill out the form below or email your questions, issues, or story ideas by filling out the form below or by emailing 7OnYourSideNina@abc.com. All emails MUST INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND CELLPHONE NUMBER. Without a phone number, 7 On Your Side will not be able to respond.

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Police conclude investigation at Walmart in Cherry Hill, officials say

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Police conclude investigation at Walmart in Cherry Hill, officials say


A police investigation took place at a Walmart in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on Wednesday morning and shoppers may have noticed an increased presence of officers at the shopping center, officials said.

On social media, the Cherry Hill Police Department alerted residents that an investigation was underway in a Walmart, located along Route 38 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, at about 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

However, officials did not immediately detail the cause of this increased police presence, other than saying an investigation was underway and “the scene has been secured.”

Police were asking people to avoid the area, if possible, to allow officers the ability to complete this investigation.

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However, as of about 10 a.m., police said on social media that the incident was resolved and there was no threat to the public.

As of about 10:15 a.m., police had not provided further information on the nature of this investigation, nor did they say if anyone was arrested through the course of this incident.

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NBC10 is working to learn more.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.





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