Watauga County, NC: Foreclosures, Tax Liens & Distressed Properties

Watauga County, NC, North Carolina: 10 ZIP codes scored, Watauga County, NC averaging 31/100 (moderate, Watauga, NC), from 22 to 34. Watauga County, NC is in its peak phase (Watauga, NC confidence 18/100): Watauga, NC home prices up 1.9% (Watauga, NC) over twelve months. Watauga County, NC lender headwind: 46/100.

Highest-scoring Watauga County, NC ZIPs: 28618 (34/100), 28607 (33/100), 28679 (33/100), 28692 (33/100), 28698 (33/100), 28605 (32/100). Also scored in Watauga County, NC: 28684, 28604, 28645, 28622.

Across Watauga County, NC's scored ZIPs: median home value $315,530, household income $50,888, 36.1% vacancy, 12.9% poverty, 76% owner-occupied, median age 44.2.

Watauga County, NC insurance distress 86/100 (#204 in the US); FEMA hazard 78/100 for Watauga, NC; 6 federal disaster declarations in Watauga County, NC since 2023; 201 Watauga, NC NFIP flood claims, $13.1M paid; Watauga, NC construction distress 75/100.

14 banks with 16 branches lend in Watauga County, NC; Watauga, NC weighted bank stress 61/100, highest 71/100 in Watauga, NC.

Watauga County, NC unemployment 3.7% (Watauga, NC +0.4 pts, six months); 361 new housing units permitted in Watauga County, NC over twelve months, Watauga, NC down 29% from 508; Watauga, NC home prices +14.9% a year (Watauga, NC) over three years.

33,355 housing units in Watauga County, NC; 8,225 Watauga, NC renter households; 57% of Watauga, NC renters spend 30%+ of income on rent, 42% (Watauga, NC) half or more.

Watauga County, NC ranks #451 nationally on the opportunity index (Watauga, NC, among all ranked counties); Watauga, NC scores 33.7/100 and Watauga, NC sits #18 inside North Carolina. Watauga, NC is in the overheated opportunity phase; Watauga, NC's primary driver is vacancy, Watauga, NC second driver construction; Watauga, NC moved down 299 places. 7 short-sale listings across Watauga, NC; 106 days on market observed in Watauga, NC; 30.3% vacancy over 10 Watauga, NC ZIPs.

No CFPB county sample covers Watauga County, NC. The non-metro area reading for Watauga, NC: 1.3% ninety-plus days late; Watauga, NC's thirty-to-eighty-nine share is 3.4% (Watauga, NC, December 2025 data); North Carolina overall 0.9%.

Watauga County, NC has 5 watched banks; 5 Watauga, NC banks sit in an elevated band. Watauga, NC footprints: First-Citizens Bank&Trust Co (2 branches, stress 71) in Watauga, NC; Bank Of America Na (1 branch, stress 71) in Watauga, NC; Lifestore Bank (1 branch, stress 63) in Watauga, NC.

HUD lists 2 assisted multifamily properties in Watauga County, NC with 195 units; 10 Watauga, NC units are assisted.

12,157 of the 33,355 housing units in Watauga, NC sit vacant. Watauga County, NC permitted 82 multifamily units in twelve months; Watauga, NC's one-to-four unit structures added 279 units in Watauga County, NC.