This neighborhood has fastest rising rents, home values in Phoenix area

PHOENIX — The neighborhood that had the fastest rising rents and home values in the Phoenix area was Kleinman Park in Mesa, a recent report from Zillow found.

Kleinman Park increased by 18.6 percent in median home value and by 13.4 percent in median rent over the past year.

The median home value in Kleinman Park was $109,600. The median rent was $1,098.

Five out of the top 10 Phoenix-area neighborhoods with the fastest rising home values over the past year were in Mesa. The others were in Gilbert, Tempe and Phoenix.

Mesa also had a strong hold on the neighborhoods with the fastest rising rents over the past year. The Phoenix suburb was home to four of the top 10 neighborhoods.

As a whole, the Phoenix area increased by more than seven percent for median home values and by four percent for median rent.

There were also 13.5 percent fewer homes on the market in the Phoenix area compared to a year ago.

The report found that the acceleration was likely due to people renting longer than usual, which, in turn, drove up demand and rental prices.

Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas said in a statement that rental appreciation slowed between 2015 and 2017, but has begun to pick up steam over the last nine months.

“For-sale inventory is tight, and with home prices continuing their rapid climb, it’s becoming more and more difficult for renters to become owners, forcing them to rent longer than they otherwise would have,” he said.

“Searching for the ‘right’ home has become a drawn out affair and rising prices require more savings for a down payment. Were it not for strong new apartment construction over the past half decade, rental appreciation would be even stronger than it is now.”

The Phoenix area results reflected a national trend. The median rent in the United States rose 2.8 percent in the last year.

The report also found that rent rose the fastest in Sacramento, Riverside, Seattle and Minneapolis.

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