Property Management in Phoenix, AZ: "Epicenter of the Housing Crash"
Professionals in property management in Phoenix, AZ witnessed firsthand how hard the city, county, and state were hit during the housing crisis, but according to recent reporting by Ronald J. Hansen and Catherine Reagor in The Arizona Republic, Phoenix was the hardest hit area in the nation. They went so far as to christen it "the national epicenter of the housing crash."
Among the nation's fifty largest metro areas, only Phoenix suffered a grievous 4.4% decline in homeownership. Las Vegas was a distant second. Maricopa County also ranked No. 1 in the nation for "deterioration in homeownership," with Pima County placing eleventh. Neither California nor Florida, states with much higher populations, showed similar numbers.
Arizona also ranked high in terms of lost home values, with on-average declines of 32%. More than 200,000 homes were lost to foreclosure in metro Phoenix, half of which were converted into rentals. Today rental homes make up nearly 25% of the available housing in the area, more than double the typical rate for the region. Many previous homeowners continue to rent today, either because they can't afford to buy again, or don't want to.
In the good news category, the foreclosure crisis is largely over. September foreclosure figures for the state had fallen to below 700. Prices are rebounding too, with the median home price having climbed 65% in the last two years. The figures are based on a report issued recently by the Census Bureau, aimed at taking stock of the state of homeownership since the recession.
