Concern for buyers getting priced out as Phoenix home prices break records

PHOENIX – Phoenix home prices have risen faster than any other metro area in the country for 24 straight months, according to the Case-Shiller Index, as experts worry buyers are being priced out of the housing market.

The home trend seen in the Valley has broken a record streak set by Portland, Oregon, from 1990 to 1992.

Phoenix has led the country in home prices with a 31% year-over-year price increase, according to the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona (HBACA).

This type of outperformance relative to the rest of the country is exceedingly rare.

But what continues to increase these prices?

“We’re seeing this being driven by an increase in demand from younger buyers entering the market for the first time, and more so, people moving to Arizona from out of state,” Jackson Moll, vice president of municipal affairs of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.

“Quite simply, supply just can’t keep up.”

The median existing home price in Phoenix today is reported to be around $400,000, Moll says.

The Home Builders Association of Central Arizona is concerned with how fast buyers are being priced out of the housing market in the Valley.

As an industry, the HBACA is said to be spending time with policymakers to ensure that Arizona is prioritizing policies that allow builders to satisfy the demand for more affordable products and ensure the approval processes are as efficient as possible.

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