By Paul Maryniak | East Valley Tribune
Valley renters are increasingly finding themselves caught between rapidly rising rents and soaring home prices that make buying a house next to impossible.
Starter-home prices are rising seven times faster than a typical renter’s income, making saving for a down payment even harder, according to a new analysis by Zillow.
The online real estate marketplace earlier this month said its analysis shows first-time buyers need a year longer to save enough for a 20 percent down payment than they did in 2017 and must put away an additional $369 per month in the coming year just to keep up with the forecasted growth in home values.
But a report from Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service on July 19 carried depressing news for any buyer, let alone first-timers: Year-over-year sale prices in the Phoenix metro region rose a whopping 46.26 percent in June and the current average price of a home is $507,936.