Can’t stay here: The Valley could break an evictions record this year

Eviction filings approached a record high in the Valley last month, according to data from the Justice Courts of Maricopa County.

There were 7,903 evictions filed in July, the third-highest total ever and an increase of 9% over the previous month. The only other months with more eviction filings were January 2024 and October 2023, with 8,025 and 7,947, respectively.

The number of eviction filings are way up from pre-pandemic levels. According to Justice Courts spokesperson Scott Davis, July’s eviction filings are 30% higher than they were in July 2019.

Housing in Phoenix is unaffordable for a large portion of the population. It takes a salary of more $123,000 to afford the median home price of $460,000 in greater Phoenix, according to a study from Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. The study also showed the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment — $1,671 — is out of reach for many.

Alison Cook-Davis, the institute’s associate director of research, reported that Arizona is 270,000 housing units short of meeting the population’s needs. Low-income housing in particular is in high demand, but supply is not keeping up: There are only 26 rentals for every 100 extremely low-income residents.

The reasons for that are manifold. There have been few major policy changes at the state, city and county levels. And public pushback has been significant. Amy St. Peter, deputy executive director of the Maricopa Association of Governments, said in January that at least 30 developments met delays or were canceled because of community opposition in 2021.

Justice Court numbers also show that the Valley is on pace to set an eviction filing record for the year. So far in 2024, there have been an average of 7,165 eviction filings every month, more than the monthly average for any previous year. The full-year record is 2005, which averaged 6,974 monthly eviction filings.

Filings have been on the rise partly because pandemic-era rent relief dried up in 2023, though only 13% of eviction filings that year resulted in orders to vacate. But contrary to common myth, it is legal to evict people during Phoenix’s brutal summer months, and an increase in filings indicates that more people will be put on the street.

Though some find their feet, evictions contribute to homelessness, fueling a cruel and sometimes unforgiving cycle. In recent years, the number of unhoused people in metro Phoenix has risen sharply, jumping from about 6,300 in 2018 to nearly 9,500 this year. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court voted along ideological lines to allow cities to bar unhoused people from sleeping on public property even when no shelter is available.

Affordable housing units have recently been added in North Phoenix, South Phoenix and Chandler. In May, the Phoenix City Council approved funding for 432 new units, and Tempe announced it would build about 500 affordable units.

But as July’s figures show, the eviction crisis isn't abating yet.