Nearly 250,000 new housing units were being planned or built across Maricopa County in 2021.
Analytics director Anubhav Bagley recently told the Maricopa Association of Government’s Economic Development Committee the numbers do not include every new house being built, just those in planned developments.
“So these projects are all projects that are approved, they are platted, they are active, some of them have permits going on — a large number actually have permits going on on these. They add up to about a total of about 247,000 housing units that are sitting approved,” he said.
Of those, close to 190,000 are unbuilt. Since last year, Bagley said the number of homes for sale has increased 90% and they’re now staying on the market longer, about 42 days.
Earlier this year, the Arizona Department of Housing estimated 270,000 additional units were needed statewide to meet current demand. That included a variety of units from apartments, townhomes and houses for the lowest-income households to market rate options.
In Maricopa County, Baglee said 26% of housing stock is considered investor or seasonal-owned. Of those homes, 52% of owners are likely in Maricopa County because that's where property tax bills are sent. Forty-two percent of property tax bills are sent to other states, with California and Washington at the top. Of the stock owned by investors or seasonal visitors, 4% are international, primarily Canadian.
