Arizona highest in housing instability

More from this show

Arizona has one of the highest housing instability rates in the country. A recent student looked at why so many evictions and foreclosures are happening in the state and especially in Maricopa County. Lora Phillips, a PhD post doctoral research scholar at ASU, conducted the study.

“If you look at all housing loss in the state eviction or foreclosure, Arizona is unfortunately the highest in the country,” Phillips said. “In terms of eviction rates, we’re number two in the country with about 5.6% of renters being evicted every year.”

Looking at Arizona specifically, Maricopa County has the highest rate in Arizona. Phillips wanted to focus on certain reasons on where and who were losing homes.

The study also focused on why this was happening. Phillips said one reason is that Arizona has a high percentage of people who have low or fixed incomes, particularly among seniors. “At the same time, what we’re seeing is that housing costs are a bit high here, and they have been rising more than the national average over a period of time. So you have low and kind of fixed income, working against the fact that housing costs are increasing, and so it’s difficult for people to keep up, when they might not be making more than they were making last year, but their rent might be increasing.”

Lora Phillips, PhD Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Knowledge Exchange for Resilience at ASU

A picture of the desert with a logo for the digital-first series Trail Mix'd from Arizona PBS
March 22

Trail Mix’d Premiere Party

Serving up modern Italian cuisine, Spiga Cucina Italiana is designed to give you that Tuscan Trattoria feel
aired March 16

Check, Please! Arizona

Moabi Kotu
aired March 10

Moabi Kotu

Black in Arizona: Health featured image
aired March 1

Black in Arizona: Health

Subscribe to Arizona PBS Newsletters

STAY in touch
with azpbs.org!

Subscribe to Arizona PBS Newsletters: