By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Even though economic development officials can (and should) continue to tout the fact that the cost of living in Arizona is significantly less expensive than it is in California as they try to recruit firms to relocate, it’s safe to say Arizona’s long-vaunted affordability is dead as a street-level issue.
According to a January 12th article in GlobeSt.com citing data from Apartment List, four Valley cities ranked in the Top 10 for 2021 U.S. rent growth. 2021 ranks as the highest year for rent growth since Apartment List started keeping track in 2017.
In a separate article, GlobeSt.com reports Freddie Mac is predicting positive growth in each of the 74 markets it covers. Phoenix leads the anticipated growth with a projection of 8.2% Growth in Tucson is expected to be 7.1%.
Annualized gross income growth in multifamily is expected to be between 6% and 7.6% nationwide. Phoenix-area vacancies are expected to hover around 4.6%, according to Freddie Mac. Yardi Matrix estimates metro Phoenix vacancy at 3.9% for the first two quarters of 2022 and 4.0% for quarters three and four.