ZIP 98144 Foreclosure, Tax-Lien & Distress Report

In King County, Washington, ZIP 98144 scores 30 of 100 for composite distress, a moderate level on DLRadar's distress index. The latent-versus-live split is 66/100 structural and 6/100 already moving. Climate and flood risk are elevated too — climate & FEMA risk (100/100), flood (NFIP) exposure (95/100), FEMA disaster exposure (75/100). Its standout signals are structural risk (66/100), institutional ownership (61/100), mortgage stress (20/100). By contrast, mortgage stress (20/100) and construction/permit lag (9/100) register low.

Prices here sit in a peak phase: values held roughly flat over the trailing year, and 2% lower over three years (phase confidence 16/100). At a peak the opportunity is selective — specific stressed parcels, not a broad discount.

33,048 residents call 98144 home, typically aged 38. Home values center near $901,700, an affordability ratio of 9.5× — stretched. The tenure split is 46% owner-occupied to 54% rented. There are about 16,873 housing units across 98144. The demographic-stress sub-score lands at 46/100. Vacancy runs 4.2%. At $94,051, median income runs above typical U.S. levels. The poverty rate is 11.1%. About 62% have a four-year degree. Around 40% of renters are cost-burdened.

Net-net, 98144 is middle-of-the-pack, where the deals are specific addresses rather than the whole ZIP. Parcel-level detail for 98144 is not published yet -- the ZIP-level readings above remain fully sourced.

Big metro or rural, 98144 runs through one identical scoring model, so its 30/100 sits on the same scale as every other ZIP in King County, Washington and the nation. 98144 carries no interpolated values - each figure ties to a public source and refreshes the moment new records land.

The 30/100 for 98144 sums independent layers - foreclosure, mortgage, tax-lien, lender headwind and structural risk - so the mix behind the number matters as much as the number. For a buyer, 98144 is one row in a larger workflow: confirm the score, pull the distressed parcels behind it, then move from signal to funded, closed acquisition through DLRadar.