Photo Credit: AZCentral.com
For any renters or prospective home buyers in the Phoenix metro area, housing costs are easily one of the biggest concerns and have turned into a political football. As with any significant issue, especially one that impacts an oversized percentage of their voting base, politicians will do their best to at least give the appearance of solving issues.
Enter Governor Katie Hobbs, who recently made waves by signing a whopping four bills at once; the grouping of the bills together to be signed along with the media coverage clearly indicated that this was to be considered a landmark event.
The bills essentially revolved around a loosening of restrictions and cutting through red tape; one allowing residents in larger cities to build casitas on their properties, one allowing municipalities to allow for duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes or townhomes to be built on single-family home lots, one relaxing zoning to allow for more multifamily development, and the last to speed up approval of construction projects.
That said, to a degree rent relief might be moving at the speed of government and rendering these changes less critical. Arizona was the only state to have rent drops in every metro area earlier this year, indicating that things have been going in the right direction before any changes. This sort of change would have been much more beneficial in Hobbs’s first year of office or at the end of her predecessor’s tenure.
The rent story isn’t the only story of approving affordability, however; earlier this year, 31% of home listings had had their prices reduced, far above the national average of 18% at the time, indicating that demand has not kept up with pricing. While median prices were still at a lofty $450,000, high price reduction rates are a strong indicator that at the very least the worst in price increases is behind us, and significant price declines may be on the horizon, which is very welcome news for new homebuyers.
Ultimately however, while the ultimate results will dictate how much of a win this legislation is both from the political sense as well as the residents, it is a refreshing take from Hobbs. Democrats have long had the reputation for embracing and even increasing bureaucratic red tape. To attempt to solve this issue by doing the exact opposite is an extremely positive development and an indicator that split government forces pragmatic solutions.