Should there be rent control in Phoenix? (Mesa, Sun City: apartments, renters)

[moguldreamer]

Originally Posted by Goofball86

As most know there is a big housing crisis in Phoenix well all over the country really.

Factually incorrect. There is no housing crisis, period.

[My2cents55]

Originally Posted by moguldreamer

Factually incorrect. There is no housing crisis, period.

The Facts don't agree with you Phoenix does have a housing crisis. The whole state pretty much.

[My2cents55]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

Nope. Get rid of all residential zoning laws and increase supply by threefold.

I agree building more affordable housing and speeding up the process to get permits would help.

[john3232]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

This housing market was under valued for a long time, resulting in prices that were actually too cheap. Rental costs have dramatically increased over the last few years for several reasons, but one of the factors has been the increased demand. Several years ago, there was a report that said Phoenix will need 150,000 new apartments by 2030 to keep up with the growth & demand. Add what the COVID kneejerk reaction did to the labor market & availability of materials, and that caused prices to increase further.

Maricopa County leads nation in population increase, surpasses 4.5 million
Maricopa County added 56,831 residents between July 2021 and June 2022, the largest population growth for a county in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which said the county had an estimated 4.5 million residents last year. It was the second straight year the county led the nation in population growth. Maricopa added 46,866 people in 2021.
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2023/...%20last%20year.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by Goofball86

As most know there is a big housing crisis in Phoenix well all over the country really. Phoenix used to be a nice big city you could rely on for affordable housing not anymore.

10 years ago I could get a two-bedroom for $700 a month plus utilities and it was very affordable now you gotta work 2 jobs and have a roommate.

I've had to move several times over the past 3 years because of the crazy rent the last place I was paying 1050 for a two-bedroom when my lease was up they wanted to raise my rent by $450 dollars with taxes and everything over $1500 now mind you this wasn't a nice apartment complex it was in a crap area and the complex itself was 50 years old run-down they excused the price hike of some lackluster renovations lipstick on a pig on the exterior and adding a washer and dryer to the units.

I decided I wasn't gonna pay that and was able to move someplace more affordable. I know rent control is a very controversial topic and I know we have various landlords on here who will push back on the idea but I think there should be at least a cap per year of no more than 20 or 30 percent.

I've seen various proposals such as repealing the taxes that the landlords pay but how would that lower rents and what would compel the landlords to pass on the savings to the renters?

The rent prices are just horrendous no wonder we have a huge homeless problem in this city. Just my 3 cents.

Rent control doesn't do a GD thing to ease housing shortages.

NY, CA, NJ and other areas have had some form of rent control for decades (in NY's case since 1970's and before that another set of rent control laws that came in during WWII and were not ended until 1960's), yet still somehow, somehow there's always a shortage of "affordable" housing.

Time after time economists on both sides of political fence reach same conclusion; rent control laws do not provide any benefit in terms of housing shortages. More to point they often create shortages of rental housing as developers build either condo or co-op multifamily housing.

Only way you get more housing with rent control is by providing subsidies (taxpayer money) to landlords or developers to offset losses caused by rents and other aspects of rental property ownership controlled by state or local government.

[Voebe]

I'm starting to think there should be rent control everywhere.

[Sno0909]

Originally Posted by Voebe

I'm starting to think there should be rent control everywhere.

Good idea. Then we can cap home prices for purchase. So if you buy a home at $300,000, you can never resell it for more than 10% of what you paid. So $330,000 would be your sale price. That's a great way to control the out of control RE market.

Next we could move onto the prices for beef. Give the grocer a strict cap of what they can sell the beef for. It doesn't matter how much the farmer paid for the cow, or transportation costs, or distribution, etc. None of that matters.

Voebe, I think you and I can work together on this. What do you say? The sky is the limit.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Good idea. Then we can cap home prices for purchase. So if you buy a home at $300,000, you can never resell it for more than 10% of what you paid. So $330,000 would be your sale price. That's a great way to control the out of control RE market.

Next we could move onto the prices for beef. Give the grocer a strict cap of what they can sell the beef for. It doesn't matter how much the farmer paid for the cow, or transportation costs, or distribution, etc. None of that matters.

Voebe, I think you and I can work together on this. What do you say? The sky is the limit.

I get the sarcasm and certainly do not think rent controls will address the housing shortage/prices in the Phoenix area. But I am troubled nonetheless. I am a B-school grad. I understand how it all works. But the unseen hand, the rules of supply and demand don't seem to work these days like we learned in school. Reduced or increased demand or supply does not result in the price impacts one would estimate. Prices these days are controlled, it would seem, by speculative investors, monopolies and cartels, collusion, government subsidies or lack thereof, foreign policy decisions and so forth far more than they are simple demand/supply. There is very little of a free market economy anymore. Maybe we should empower consumers to provide a more equal footing vis-à-vis the investor class. But then again --- it's complicated.

[john3232]

People are moving here in droves. Maricopa has been the fastest growing county in the country for the past two years.

[WanderingRebel]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I get the sarcasm and certainly do not think rent controls will address the housing shortage/prices in the Phoenix area. But I am troubled nonetheless. I am a B-school grad. I understand how it all works. But the unseen hand, the rules of supply and demand don't seem to work these days like we learned in school. Reduced or increased demand or supply does not result in the price impacts one would estimate. Prices these days are controlled, it would seem, by speculative investors, monopolies and cartels, collusion, government subsidies or lack thereof, foreign policy decisions and so forth far more than they are simple demand/supply. There is very little of a free market economy anymore. Maybe we should empower consumers to provide a more equal footing vis-à-vis the investor class. But then again --- it's complicated.

Long way of saying we don't live in a true free market anymore; in which I would agree.