Fewer single-family permits are being issued in Maricopa and Pinal counties. As builders scale back their plans, we counted only 1,960 single-family permits issued in July 2022. This is the lowest monthly count since May 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was disrupting all business. The current total is 35% lower than July last year.

No similar reticence applies to the multi-family developers. July 2022 saw the largest total of multi-family permits we have ever recorded, namely 2,546. This is up 45% from July 2022 and the first time we have seen multi-family permits exceed single-family permits. The July year-to-date total is 11,186, which smashes the previous record of 9,008, set in 2020.

Developers appear to think there will be a lot more people renting in denser urban areas in the future.

For more details of monthly permit counts, including totals by city or town and for other counties within Arizona, please refer to our optional Cromford® Public section.

Market insights provided by The Cromford Report.