By Tom Simplot & Howard Epstein
People are flocking to Arizona. Our limitless opportunities for businesses, families, and young professionals combined with our unparalleled quality of life has transformed Arizona. But one consequence of growth is the impact it is having on housing.
A recent Phoenix Business Journal article detailed the steady flow of people moving to Arizona and the resulting increases in home prices and rent. According to data from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, the median home price in Maricopa County rose to $450,000 in July, compared to $350,000 a year prior. And the average Phoenix-area renter is paying $1,320 a month, according to Phoenix-based ABI Multifamily. That leaves hundreds of families — single mothers with children, veterans, those suffering from mental illness — unable to afford a home of their own. The list of undesirable options includes sleeping on friend’s couches, living out of cars, lining up for a bed in an overflowing shelter, or worst-case scenario, a tent on the street.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, our state has a shortage of 136,000 affordable housing units for extremely low-income renters. Many of these households are severely cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 50% of their income on housing, forgoing other necessities like healthy food and health care, because they simply can’t afford it. The threat of eviction for these folks is a strong reality, especially with the moratorium on evictions having been lifted.
Tom Simplot is the director of the Arizona Department of Housing and will be a featured speaker at SAAR’s Fair Housing Symposium in February 2022.
Howard Epstein is the founder of the Arizona Housing Fund.
First appeared in the Phoenix Business Journal.