PHOENIX — Data collected by the Maricopa County Justice Courts reports 7,693 eviction filings in the Valley last month.
In 20 years of data, it’s the third-highest number of monthly filings.
Filings are always higher during the summer months and this year is no different. Filings between June and August this year are the fourth highest on record beaten only by 2005 through 2007.
The high number of filings requires context. A major response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a federal eviction moratorium which lasted from September 2020 to August 2021.
The moratorium caused evictions in the Valley to plummet. Much of the increased volume this year can be attributed to what is essentially a backlog of filings that would have likely taken place back then. For this reason, the higher filings numbers should not ultimately be considered a recession indicator.
The high numbers are not all due to the moratorium.
When the wild swings of the pandemic years are removed from the data there is a strong correlation between the year-over-year change in eviction filings and rent inflation. When rent inflation rises so typically do evictions.
Right now, inflation is up 16%... by far the highest in two decades.
The nation’s poverty rate has jumped as well from 7.8% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022, according to recently published data from the Washington Post.
In terms of where filings in the Valley are the highest, courts in Glendale have processed the most eviction filings so far this year at 3,374. Other regions of the Valley ranking in the top five are courts in Ahwatukee, north and west Phoenix, as well as Chandler.
