Arizona is on pace to never be able to close its housing deficit, a new report says.
The Common Sense Institute released a report Tuesday stating that the state currently faces a housing deficit of 56,047 units as of the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. It gave Arizona a “D” grade for its housing, down from last year’s “C-.”
Arizona received this worse grade due to permitting issues, said Zach Milne, CSI’s chief economist and the report's author. Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county by population and home to Phoenix, also received a “D” from institute.
According to the report, Arizona's statewide housing deficit has decreased from 68,742 units in 2019. However, due to a lack of permits being issued, the state will never be able to close this gap, CSI said.
Milne told The Center Square that the state is on pace for 47,539 building permits to be issued, which the economist noted is around a 20% decline from 2024.
In this report, Milne stated permits refer to the ones required to construct a single-family unit.
Last year, CSI’s report says the state issued 59,306 building permits. The projected 2025 pace closely resembles that of 2019, when only 46,580 building permits were issued.
Milne said the state’s housing shortage is only going to grow if it continues to see a decrease in permitting.
A CSI report released in May said it takes over 300 days for new housing projects to complete their permitting, development and final inspection process, The Center Square reported.
