8 Northeast Cities That Could Be Headed For a Housing Crisis

High home prices, low supply and rising mortgage rates have caused the housing market to cool off some, which, if that trend continues, could eventually cause home values to plummet, according to experts. Once that happens, homeowners who owe more money to the bank than what their homes are worth won’t be able to sell their home and at least break even. And if they can’t make their monthly mortgage payments and can’t sell their home to completely pay off their mortgage, the next step is likely foreclosure. Some U.S. cities in the northeast are experiencing conditions that are bringing them closer to the brink of a housing crisis.

To determine the eight northeast cities that could be nearing a housing crisis, GOBankingRates looked at the largest 200 cities in terms of total housing units and sourced data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to find the percentages of delinquent mortgages, the 2020 American Community Survey to find homeowner and rental vacancy rates, and RealtyTrac to gather foreclosure rates. Using that data, GOBankingRates scored each city to find those most at risk. Read on to find out which eight northeast cities could be heading for a housing crisis.

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 1.4%
• % of mortgages that are 90 days delinquent: 0.5%

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 1.8%
• % of mortgages that are 90 days delinquent: 0.7%

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 1.2%
• % of mortgages that are 90 days delinquent: 0.7%

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 1.5%
• % of mortgages that are 90 days delinquent: 0.7%

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 1.3%
• % of mortgages that are 90 days delinquent: 0.7%

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 2.8%
• % of mortgages that are 90 days delinquent: 0.7%

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 1.0%
• % of mortgages that are 90 days delinquent: 0.9%

• Homeowner vacancy rate: 3.2%
• % of mortgages that are 90+ days delinquent: 1.0%

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Methodology: In order to find the northeast cities that could be poised for a housing crisis, GOBankingRates looked at the largest 200 cities in terms of total housing units across the following factors: (1) percent of mortgages 30-89 days delinquent by MSA as sourced from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; (2) percent of mortgages 90-plus days delinquent by MSA as sourced from the Consumer Protection Bureau; (3) homeowner vacancy rate as sourced from the 2020 American Community Survey; and (4) rental vacancy rate as sourced from the 2020 American Community Survey. These four factors were then scored and combined with the highest score indicating the city most likely to be poised for a housing crisis. Factors (1) and (2) were weighted 2x and factor (4) was weighted 0.5x. The 100 cities most poised for a housing crisis were moved onto the next round of scoring. These 100 cities were then re-ranked and scored on the four factors above as well as (5) foreclosure rate as sourced from RealtyTrac. These five factors were scored and combined with the highest score indicating the city most likely to be poised for a housing crisis. For this second round of scoring, factors (1) and (2) were weighted 2x, factor (4) was weighted 0.5x, and factor (5) was weighted 1.5x. GOBankingRates then isolated those 10 cities in the northeast with the highest scores for final rankings. All data was collected on and up to date as of May 23, 2022 and rankings were finalized on October 27, 2022.