Arizona could experience another population bump in coming year

PHOENIX — A Valley economist is expecting another population bump in Arizona in the coming year.

Jim Rounds with Elliott D. Pollack and Company said he expected more people to leave cold weather states for the Southwest and that would kick-start economic activity.

“We’ve been in a mild economic recovery for so long that a lot of the people who were foreclosed upon are going to become eligible for mortgages again late next year and into 2016,” Rounds said.

Explosive population growth came to an end during the housing bubble and recession.

“Right now we’re seeing a weak economy because people are still tied to their areas and they’re not able to move. … We’re going to see more population movement and that’s been the problem with Arizona.”

Rounds said the renewed population growth will help home sales, people moving out of apartments to single-family homes and that will create more jobs in Arizona.

“We’ll see an uptick in economic activity but that’s if the national economy doesn’t sputter. We still need the U.S. economy to keep growing to make people more confident to move when they’re eligible for a new mortgage.”