The Market Overview
Phoenix, AZ – The Phoenix mortgage market—especially Maricopa County—is “extreme”. It is comprised of rapidly expanding communities with household growth rates that lead the nation, zones of explosive growth, local zones with zero/negative growth, growing income disparities, skyrocketing home values and housing affordability gaps-all accompanied by fierce mortgage lending competition. Housing and residential property values have risen between 20-40% per year in recent years. Incomes have struggled to keep pace with increasing property values, especially for moderate to middle income households. Despite swings in economic cycles over the last 20 years, household growth, housing, and the demand for residential mortgage loans have steadily increased.

The Situation
Like many U.S. metro areas, the Phoenix area has grown in ever-expanding bands of growth over the years. For the past 8-10 years the expansion has been explosive, moving population farther and farther away from the center of Phoenix and into the outlying, rural regions of Maricopa County. As a Sun-belt vacation, entertainment, second-home, and retirement destination, household growth projections will keep it at the top of the fastest growing housing markets in the U.S.

Such rapid growth has attracted thousands of lenders and brokers from all over the U.S. and fueled fierce competition for mortgage loans, experienced loan originators, and dependable referral sources. But competitive differentiation between lenders is often difficult to find.

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