ZIP 21797 Foreclosure, Tax-Lien & Distress Report

In Howard County, Maryland, ZIP 21797 scores 26 of 100 for composite distress, a low level on DLRadar's public-record index. Structural risk reads 61/100 against active distress of 2/100. Its heaviest discrete signals: construction/permit lag (100/100), structural risk (61/100), institutional ownership (16/100). By contrast, institutional ownership (16/100) and mortgage stress (6/100) register low. Climate and flood risk are elevated too — climate & FEMA risk (75/100), flood (NFIP) exposure (67/100).

Prices here sit in a peak phase: values rose 2.2% over the trailing year, and 16% higher over three years, at 21/100 phase confidence. At a peak the opportunity is selective — specific stressed parcels, not a broad discount.

Population is roughly 8,772 with a median age of 44. Rent burden reaches 64% of tenant households. A median home runs $735,600 here, or 3.9 times local income. Roughly 4.7% live below the poverty line, a low share typical of higher-equity areas. Owners hold 90% of homes, renters 10%. Vacancy runs 2.3%. The demographic-stress sub-score lands at 30/100. There are about 2,903 housing units across 21797. About 49% have a four-year degree. Households earn a median $185,435 — above the roughly $78,000 national figure.

On balance 21797 is mixed, rewarding parcel-by-parcel screening over broad assumptions. Parcel-level detail for 21797 is not published yet -- the ZIP-level readings above remain fully sourced to public records.

No ZIP is too small to score: 21797 passes through the same foreclosure, tax, mortgage and bank-stress model as any major-metro ZIP, so its 26/100 composite is a like-for-like number rather than an isolated estimate. Nothing here is interpolated — where a source is thin for 21797, DLRadar leaves it blank rather than guessing, and re-scores as new records post.

21797's headline rolls up several separately-scored signals, which is why two ZIPs can share a composite yet face very different distress. The point of the 21797 score is action: it tells you whether to open the ZIP, and DLRadar takes it from there to parcels, funding and close.