Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Home prices and rents continue to hit new monthly records, shutting the door on many buyers and tenants.

Here’s what you need to know to navigate metro Phoenix’s hot housing market.

The Valley has a shortage of homes for sale and vacant apartments for rent that has led to a double-digit increases in housing costs during the past year.

Homeowners are seeing big boosts in equity due to rapidly rising prices. Most owners trying to sell Phoenix-area houses are getting several offers because so few are available. Big corporate investors are snatching up many Phoenix-area homes and beating regular buyers out for them by paying cash.

Metro Phoenix is facing a housing crisis. Nearly 300,000 more houses and rentals are needed statewide to ease the housing shortage, according to the Arizona Housing Department.

Much-needed new Valley apartment developments are stalling due to not-in-my-backyard-ism, zoning issues and political backlash.

Home prices are zooming up. Is there anything that could slow the market?

Metro Phoenix home prices continue to soar to new monthly records, and sales are climbing again. Corporate investors are buying even more Phoenix-area houses to turn into rentals than they did last year, pushing prices up to new records.

First-time buyers can’t get a break

Non-primary home buyers are behind more than 30% of Valley home sales. Most of those buyers, which include big groups backed by Wall Street and second-home buyers, are paying more than list price for the well-below-normal number of Phoenix-area houses for sale.

Here's how much metro Phoenix home prices are rising from just 5 years ago

Metro Phoenix’s median home price is double what it was five years ago. That jaw-dropping indicator is one more blow to homebuyers grappling to afford a house.

Here are 3 ways to bring in much-needed affordable housing.

Arizona’s need for housing that people can afford is a big and growing problem. Roadblocks to building include not-in-my-backyard-ism and political backlash. These are shutting the door on new developments, particularly in metro Phoenix, where the affordable housing crunch is the worst.

Buyers left in the cold while metro Phoenix construction of single-family rentals booms

Metro Phoenix has long been a hotspot for homebuilding, and now it’s the top market in the U.S. for single-family rental construction. The rents on these new houses are climbing nearly as fast as home prices. The Phoenix area is second to only Miami for single-family rent hikes during the past year.

Metro Phoenix apartment sales soar as investors buy up rentals.

Metro Phoenix renters, brace yourselves for more tough times. The Valley’s apartment market is drawing big investors paying record prices for complexes, and that is a sure sign rents will keep climbing.

Backlash against affordable homes intensifies Arizona housing shortage

Arizona needs as many as 270,000 additional homes with rents and prices below what apartments and houses are going for now to keep the state’s growing affordable housing problem from becoming a crisis.

Growing NIMBYism in metro Phoenix

At least 30 apartment developments stalled or were shelved across metro Phoenix in 2021 due to not-in-my-backyard-ism, zoning issues and political backlash.

Reach the reporter at Catherine.Reagor@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8040. Follow her on Twitter @Catherinereagor.