Rents dip in Scottsdale, other places in Valley
Decline comes after area had led US in increases
Metro Phoenix rents have finally stopped rapidly increasing and are even dipping in some areas.
Scottsdale posted the second biggest decrease in the U.S. for the median rent on a one-bedroom apartment this month.
Other Valley cites including Chandler, Tempe and Phoenix saw rents drop, too.
This month’s dips comes after metro Phoenix led the nation for rent increases for most of 2019 and early 2020.
Rents nationally were flat during a month when several states including Arizona had moratoriums on evictions due to the pandemic.
“Landlords are wary of losing tenants and seem to be reticent to ask for increased rents,” said Sydney Temple, lead rental economist at the national research firm Abodo.
She also said many tenants are living more frugally either by choice or by necessity, and that once-coveted luxury apartment near a popular downtown “may not look so appealing right now.”
Rent updates about larger cities in Arizona
The typical rent for a one-bedroom in Scottsdale fell about 4% to $1,386 between May and June, according to Abodo’s new report.
Scottsdale was behind only Charleston, South Carolina, for the biggest drop in one-bedroom rents among the U.S.’ approximately 100 biggest cities.
Rent updates for one-bedroom apartments in other Valley cities for June:
Chandler down 2.4% to $1,318. Tucson down 1.28% to $770. Phoenix down 0.27% to $1,090. Tempe down 0.24% to $1,231. Mesa up 0.78% to $1,039. Glendale up 0.94% to $861. Other metro Phoenix suburbs including Goodyear, Peoria, Avondale and Buckeye weren’t large enough to make the list.
Evictions down again
The number of renters losing their homes in Maricopa County dropped 80% in May compared with May 2019, according to the Maricopa County Justice Courts.
The drop from 5,817 evictions a year ago to 1,189 last month is likely due to state and federal eviction moratoriums and financial help during the COVID-19 crisis.
Phoenix-area renter evictions fell 66% during April, after Gov. Doug Ducey’s March executive order to delay evictions for people either quarantined or facing economic hardships due to COVID-19.
Temple said landlords could be taking below-market rent now because they don’t want to do anything to “disturb paying tenants.”
Though evictions are down, they are still happening in metro Phoenix.
“There is this erroneous belief that evictions are not happening, and that landlords cannot evict tenants, and that’s not correct,” Maricopa County Justice Courts spokesman Scott Davis said. “If tenants do not pay, landlords can and do file the eviction suits to take those tenants to court . ... (And tenants) have to provide legitimate proof of being affected by the coronavirus pandemic.”
What’s different now is constables who actually go to renters’ homes to deliver eviction orders can allow them to stay if a renter can prove someone in the home was sick or economically impacted by COVID-19.
Easing hoops to get help with rent
There’s still plenty of money for renters struggling due to COVID-19 in a $5 million fund created at the Arizona Department of Housing, right after the eviction moratorium.
A few weeks ago, about 90% of the money was still available to help Arizona
renters. Part of the delay in getting renters’ landlords the funds has been due to problems with obtaining the documentation needed, department of housing officials say.
Other housing advocates are concerned the guidelines are too strict.
Ruby Dhillon-Williams, assistant deputy director for the Housing Department, recently said new guidelines are in the works that will make it easier to distribute the money faster and to more renters.
Pay rent, if you can
Housing advocates are advising renters not to skip rent payments if they can afford to pay because most of the current eviction protections run out in late July. Renters will owe unpaid rent then, or face possible eviction.
“Once the protections of the CARES Act and the Governors order are over, unless tenants have made arrangements with the landlord in writing to pay back any rent owed, landlords will be able to evict tenants for unpaid rent,” said Pamela Bridge, director of Advocacy and Litigation at Phoenix-based Community Legal Services.