By Jade Yeban | Arizona Capitol Times
A decade after the Great Recession, metro Phoenix earned the title “Top Housing Market for 2017” from Realtor.com.
Indeed, housing development seems to be flourishing in Phoenix and other parts of the state, but some economists and housing industry experts say Arizona has yet to fully recover from the recession.
For a state whose fluctuations in revenues have historically hewed closely to the rise and fall of the housing industry, that might have been problematic.
But a “new normal” has since emerged after the recession, in which the state is recovering, albeit at a slower pace compared to previous recoveries, even as the construction industry is struggling to regain its footing.
“The housing market continues to improve slowly. Employment and population growth are contributing to household growth, but an outsized portion of that growth has been in the rental market as households slowly rebuild credit and save down-payments. We expect this turn to continue as the homeownership rebounds over the next 5 years.
~ Jim Belfiore, Belfiore Real Estate Consultants
