ZIP 78538 Foreclosure, Tax-Lien & Distress Report

ZIP code 78538 in Hidalgo County, Texas carries a composite property-distress score of 37/100 — a moderate reading on DLRadar's deterministic public-record index. Its standout signals are structural risk (82/100), institutional ownership (69/100), construction/permit lag (61/100). By contrast, mortgage stress (25/100) register low. Climate and flood risk are elevated too — climate & FEMA risk (98/100), flood (NFIP) exposure (97/100), FEMA disaster exposure (89/100). The latent-versus-live split is 82/100 structural and 8/100 already moving.

The market reads expansion — home values rose 5.7% year on year (phase confidence 42/100). Even climbing markets leave specific parcels in distress; the scoring isolates them.

Roughly 35.6% live below the poverty line, elevated and often tied to deferred-maintenance inventory. About 11% have a four-year degree. There are about 3,934 housing units across 78538. DLRadar's demographic-stress index for the area reads 34/100. Rent burden reaches 39% of tenant households. The tenure split is 72% owner-occupied to 28% rented. 10,740 residents call 78538 home, typically aged 34. The vacancy rate is 11.9% — elevated. Median household income is $38,904, below the U.S. median near $78,000. Home values center near $92,100, an affordability ratio of 2.2× — accessible.

Taken together, 78538 profiles as an active-distress market where motivated-seller and below-market acquisitions concentrate. There is no property file for 78538 at the moment; the composite and its components are still built from verifiable public records.

The 78538 read uses the identical public-record model applied coast to coast, which means its 37/100 score means exactly what it means anywhere else, and 78538 stays directly comparable to neighboring ZIPs and the rest of Hidalgo County, Texas. Nothing here is interpolated — where a source is thin for 78538, DLRadar leaves it blank rather than guessing, and re-scores as new records post.

Behind 78538's composite sit distinct signals (foreclosure, mortgage, tax-lien, lender and structural), each scored on its own before rolling up, so two ZIPs with the same total can describe very different situations on the ground. In workflow terms, 78538 is a go/no-go - the score says whether to drill in, then DLRadar carries you to parcels, capital and closing.