A new report examining corporate ownership of Phoenix-area housing calls for restrictions on institutional homebuyers, expanded financing for local builders, and changes to federal tax policy. The report also endorses an Arizona proposal from Republican state Rep. Nick Kupper (R-LD25).
The American Economic Liberties Project’s September case study, authored by Laurel Kilgour and Allie Gross, argues that consolidation in banking and homebuilding, purchases of foreclosed properties, and the expansion of build-to-rent communities have contributed to difficulties facing prospective homeowners.
For more on the investor takeover of housing in Phoenix, read the full brief Phoenix Case Study: Single-Family Rentals, Build-to-Rent, and Undoing the Corporate Capture of Housing here: https://t.co/bQtNUr6fLX
— American Economic Liberties Project (@econliberties) September 9, 2026
The nonprofit, which advocates against concentrated corporate power, acknowledges that institutional investors did not create the housing supply shortage. Its report contends that investors capitalized on that shortage while changes in financing weakened smaller builders’ ability to compete.
The report’s focus on construction shortfalls follows earlier research covered by AZ Free News in May. The Common Sense Institute identified prolonged underbuilding after the Great Recession as a principal driver of Arizona’s housing shortage, citing annual housing permits that fell from nearly 90,000 in 2005 to approximately 12,600 in 2010 and recovered to about 45,000 by 2019. That study examined short-term rentals such as Airbnb and found no consistent statistical relationship between their growth and home-price appreciation across Arizona communities.
Before the housing crash, Arizona was building at a rapid pace:
• ~400,000 homes built from 2003–2007 After the Great Recession, construction slowed significantly: • ~211,000 homes built from 2010–2019
— Common Sense Institute Arizona (@CSInstituteAZ) April 16, 2026
Phoenix has gained prominence in the institutional rental market in recent years, appearing in Urban Institute research published in 2023. Using 2022 property records, researchers identified 33,406 single-family rental properties held by “mega” rental operators in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metropolitan area, second to Atlanta among the markets examined. The study defined those operators as investors owning more than 1,000 properties across multiple locations. However, the Urban Institute also cautioned that its data should be treated as a sample and that smaller institutional investors were incompletely captured.
A 2024 Government Accountability Office (GAO) review found that institutional investors may have contributed to increases in home prices and rents while helping stabilize neighborhoods after the financial crisis. The GAO said their effects on homeownership opportunities and tenants were less clear because of limited data and inconsistent definitions of institutional investors.
The new Phoenix report also examines build-to-rent developments, where homes are constructed for rental occupancy. Its recommendations include phased sales of institutional holdings, giving prospective owner-occupants and nonprofits an initial opportunity to purchase foreclosed homes, and reducing tax incentives for institutional rental ownership. The authors also recommend financing programs for local homebuilders and taxes intended to discourage holding undeveloped land.
In Arizona, the report endorses Kupper’s House Bill 2325, introduced in January as the “Own Something and Be Happy Act.”
I’m proud to introduce HB2325 the Own Something and Be Happy Act!
The introduced legislation would prohibit covered institutional investors from owning more than 50 single-family homes statewide, bidding during the first 60 days a home is publicly offered for sale, or making bulk purchases. Investors already exceeding the ownership limit would be barred from additional acquisitions and could voluntarily sell properties to comply.
The bill includes exemptions for affordable housing nonprofits, government housing agencies, community land trusts, qualifying homebuilders, and people or entities owning fewer than 50 single-family homes in Arizona. It would also require annual ownership disclosures to the Arizona Department of Housing. The proposed enforcement provisions would allow local prosecutors to act when the attorney general declines enforcement in a particular matter.
“When large investment firms buy up neighborhoods, families lose and prices climb,” Kupper said.
HB 2325 did not receive a hearing in the House Commerce Committee.
At the federal level, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, enacted July 11, includes restrictions on additional single-family home purchases by large institutional investors. Its definition generally covers qualifying investment entities controlling at least 350 homes, subject to exclusions.
The federal purchase restrictions take effect 180 days after enactment. The law includes exceptions for qualifying build-to-rent purchases and other transactions, and it does not require investors to sell homes purchased before enactment.
Arizona’s House delegation split 5–3 on the final version in the June 23 vote. Reps. David Schweikert (R-AZ01), Eli Crane (R-AZ02), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ05) voted against it. Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ06) and Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ08) joined Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ03), Greg Stanton (D-AZ04), and Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ07) in support. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ09) did not vote. Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) both supported the final Senate version in the June 22 vote.
President Donald Trump said that he would withhold his signature in protest over the Senate’s failure to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration and photo identification for voting. The housing legislation became law July 11 without his signature, following the constitutional review period of 10 days, excluding Sundays, without a veto.
Congressman Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) has introduced legislation to designate a section of Interstate 17 as the Mueller-Keating Memorial Highway, honoring the lives and sacrifices of two Arizonans who confronted the threat of ISIS through humanitarian service and military courage.
The Mueller-Keating Memorial Highway Act, introduced on August 13, would designate a stretch of I-17 running from Prescott to Phoenix, connecting the hometowns of Kayla Mueller and Chief Special Warfare Operator Charles H. Keating IV.
Mueller, known as “Arizona’s Angel,” was born and raised in Prescott, Arizona. She traveled to Syria to provide humanitarian assistance and was abducted by terrorists while leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo in 2013.
Mueller was held captive for approximately 18 months before being killed by ISIS militants, including then-ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Keating, a Phoenix native and U.S. Navy SEAL, was killed in Iraq while serving during Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led effort launched in 2014 to combat ISIS, reclaim territory taken by the terrorist organization, dismantle its network, and protect civilians from its violence.
Keating was the third U.S. service member killed during Operation Inherent Resolve.
🇺🇸NEW🇺🇸
Congressman Hamadeh Honored to Introduce the Mueller-Keating Memorial Highway Act
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) August 14, 2026
The proposed highway designation seeks to recognize what Hamadeh described as the “distinct, yet complementary” contributions of two Arizona heroes who confronted ISIS in different ways.
“Operation Inherent Resolve demanded both military force and humanitarian resolve, and this designation recognizes the distinct, yet complementary roles our beloved Arizonans played in that effort,” stated Congressman Hamadeh. “We can never forget the victims of ISIS and these two Americans that faced that evil with faith and courage.”
Hamadeh introduced the legislation one day before what would have been Mueller’s 38th birthday.
The congressman has previously highlighted Mueller’s legacy and efforts to bring her home.
During his swearing in ceremony, Hamadeh used the Mueller family’s Bible while taking his oath of office. He was joined at the ceremony by his family and Mueller’s parents, Carl and Marsha.
Hamadeh also traveled from Jerusalem to Damascus in August 2025 to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Prime Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani.
During the trip, Hamadeh discussed his continuing efforts to recover Kayla Mueller’s remains and his broader “Peace Through Strength” agenda.
If enacted, the Mueller-Keating Memorial Highway would serve as a permanent tribute along I-17, linking Prescott and Phoenix while honoring two Arizonans whose lives became intertwined with the fight against ISIS and the broader conflict against terrorism.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Inflation cooled for the Phoenix metro area last month, and expenditures went up.
The Common Sense Institute (CSI) reported that Phoenix metro’s Consumer Price Index rose 2.8% year-over-year in June, a slight reduction from a 3% reading in April. Energy prices dropped by more than 6% in a single month, attributed to easing tensions with Iran.
CSI noted that Arizona’s growth rate was slower than the rest of the nation. Arizona’s home prices have also cooled while home prices climb nationally.
Over the past seven years, prices have increased in the Phoenix metro area by more than 33%. The typical household pays nearly $1,700 more a month on average for its regular expenditures than they did in the last year before the pandemic hit: around $5,200 to nearly $6,900. CSI estimated that the average Phoenix metro household would have been paying just $600 more compared to 2019 if inflation had followed a steady 2% increase rate these past seven years.
From the national perspective, the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) reported that headline personal consumption expenditure price index inflation rose to nearly 4% from June 2025 to last month. The Federal Reserve’s target for that metric is 2%. Core personal consumption expenditure price index inflation was reported to be nearing 3.3%.
Services inflation rose by 0.13% and goods inflation dropped by 0.63%.
Real personal consumption expenditures increased by $68 billion, or 0.4%. Real personal consumption expenditures on all services increased by $28 billion, or 0.26%, and real personal consumption expenditures on all goods increased by $42 billion, or 0.73%.
The JEC reported that the nominal personal savings rate declined by 0.1% to 2.7%. Headline personal income increased by $55 billion, or 0.2%, and real disposable income per capita increased by nearly 0.3%.
U.S. News & World Report ranked Arizona fourth for economy in its latest Best States annual report for 2026. This marked the highest ranking achieved by the state this past year among all scorecard metrics. The state ranked high for business environment, seventh; growth, seventh; and employment, 17th.
Arizona also ranked 33rd for fiscal stability and 42nd for opportunity: 28th for economic opportunity, 32nd for equality, 35th for affordability, 30th for long-term fiscal stability, and 33rd for short term fiscal stability.
All metric rankings tallied, Arizona came in 34th overall.
Elsewhere, Arizona ranked 21st for healthcare, 23rd for infrastructure, 29th for crime and corrections, 41st for natural environment, and 43rd for education.
The Arizona Commerce Authority issued a new report this month indicating that Arizona is exceeding its goals for the 2026 fiscal year: more than 26,000 potential new jobs added (131% of goal), nearly $110 billion in capital expenditures (2,749% of goal), and more than $81,000 in wages (137% of goal).
Yet, Arizona’s unemployment rate has been outpacing job growth. The state was one of seven states to experience an increase in unemployment, and its rate recently hit a high of 4.9%, numbers not seen since the pandemic. Labor force participation also fell to a total nearing a 10-year low.
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The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the city of Phoenix must release records of their closed-door labor union negotiations.
The ruling came from a challenge initiated in 2022 by the Goldwater Institute regarding the refusal of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association’s (PLEA), the police union, to publicize its draft contract proposals for public comment prior to negotiations with the city.
The PLEA proposal concerned its 2023-2024 memorandum of understanding (MOU) which contained expenditure terms for tens of millions of taxpayer dollars as well as the employment terms for law enforcement.
Rather than submitting drafts of the MOU for public review and comment by early December as required by city code, PLEA submitted letters of intent mentioning its aim to negotiate wages and benefits. The Phoenix City Council chose to accept those letters of intent as sufficient for the public to comment on without seeing draft MOUs.
Goldwater Institute requested those draft MOUs. The city refused, claiming these documents were exempt from public records requests under state law allowing exemptions based on the “best interests of the state” because disclosure “could create a chilling effect” on negotiations.
Only after the city and PLEA reached a final agreement did they publicize a draft MOU for public comment in April 2023. The city ratified the MOU about two weeks later, in early May 2023.
That MOU has since expired, having lasted only through June 2024.
The trial court had ruled that the city had sufficiently established “potential material harm” that could occur from disclosing draft MOU materials.
“While significant, the general concerns about transparency, advocacy, and accountability identified by [Goldwater] are different, however, from the particularized interest in preserving the ability to negotiate labor agreements free of political pressure, collusion, and unnecessary delay due to impasse,” said the trial court. “The City provided testimony from individuals directly involved in the collective bargaining process and with experience in labor negotiations with and for the City of Phoenix.”
However, the Arizona Supreme Court in its ruling said that speculative claims of harm were insufficient alone.
The court determined that the city would have to release some or all of the MOU records that it had withheld. In order to determine the nature of such a release, the court ordered the lower court to review the withheld documents.
The court ruled that it was the city’s burden to prove the likelihood of specific, material harm that would occur from the disclosure of contested public records, as well as the causal connection between the disclosure and that harm that could occur.
The Goldwater Institute said in a press release that the high court ruling affirmed citizens’ rights of public disclosure and an ability to provide input.
“City residents and taxpayers deserve to know what the union was demanding and what city leaders were offering during that process. But all of that was kept hidden from the public,” stated the Goldwater Institute. “Citizens have a right to know what their government is up to and should have an opportunity to provide feedback about labor negotiations and other public activities. As today’s decision affirms, that’s the whole point of our public records laws.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating a shooting that targeted a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in central Phoenix after individuals fired multiple rounds at the building’s exterior.
According to the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office, the shooting occurred on July 14, 2026, at the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations building located at 2035 N. Central Ave., near Central Avenue and Monte Vista Road.
FBI Phoenix Investigates Shooting Incident at Federal ERO Building
Anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in the area of North Central Avenue on Tuesday, July 14, in the afternoon, or who has information regarding this shooting, is urged to contact the FBI: •Call the FBI… pic.twitter.com/NBLoy0hHxF
Authorities said several rounds struck the exterior of the federal immigration facility.
No injuries were reported as a result of the gunfire, and the damage appears to have been limited to the outside of the building.
The FBI has confirmed that one or more unidentified individuals fired the shots. The agency has not announced any arrests or identified any suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Later that same day, protestors gathered outside the ICE facility. However, federal investigators said there is currently no indication that the demonstration was connected to the shooting.
The FBI is asking anyone with information about the incident to come forward as investigators continue working to determine who was responsible.
Federal authorities have not released additional details regarding a possible motive. The FBI said it will continue investigating the incident and provide updates as more information becomes available.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
