ZIP 28698 Property Distress & Foreclosure Data

DLRadar grades ZIP 28698 (Watauga County, North Carolina) at a low 26/100 for overall property distress. Property-level stress concentrates in institutional ownership (69/100), structural risk (58/100), mortgage stress (31/100). On the quiet end sit mortgage stress (31/100). Environmental exposure also runs high (flood (NFIP) exposure (97/100), FEMA disaster exposure (88/100), climate & FEMA risk (68/100)). The latent-versus-live split is 58/100 structural and 9/100 already moving.

The peak-phase market in 28698 posted values that rose 3.7% over the year, and 21% higher over three years (phase confidence 28/100). Near a top, distress surfaces unevenly, so parcel screening beats headline strength.

Households earn a median $56,506 — below the roughly $78,000 national figure. A median home runs $219,400 here, or 4.0 times local income. About 20% have a four-year degree. On demographic stress specifically, 28698 scores 34/100. Roughly 7.7% live below the poverty line. The ZIP holds roughly 1,222 housing units. Around 58% of renters are cost-burdened. The tenure split is 87% owner-occupied to 13% rented. Population is roughly 2,259 with a median age of 50. The vacancy rate is 22.5% — elevated.

On the whole, 28698 leans distressed, with opportunity clustered in specific stressed parcels. Every signal above traces to a verifiable public dataset, refreshed continuously and scored the same way in every ZIP nationwide.