PHOENIX, U.S., November 4. Most important economic factors affecting the midterm elections particularly in Arizona are inflation, housing affordability, education, tax and regulatory policy and water issue, George Hammond, Director of the Economic and Business Center in the Eller College of Management, said in an interview with Trend on November 3 on the sidelines of the briefing on midterm elections for the international reporters in Phoenix.
“Inflation is running at a much faster pace in Phoenix. What’s happening in the housing market is that house prices are driven up. One of the important issues that people think about here in Arizona is how to increase the housing supply and stop the declining housing affordability. That’s certainly one of the key issues,” he explained.
As for the possible impact of the elections on the economic situation in Arizona, Hammond noted it depends on who wins and what policy will they pursue and that’s hard to predict.
Talking about the key features of Arizona, Hammond pointed out that it is the 14th largest US state in population.
“It is 6th largest Hispanic or Latino population and 4th largest Hispanic or Latino share,” he noted.
Regarding the economic situation, Hammond said Arizona per capita personal income is below average and Phoenix inflation is far outpacing the U.S., as for August 2022, it is 8.3 percent for the U.S. and 13 percent for Arizona.
“Arizona housing affordability plunged last quarter as past house price increases combined with rising interest rates. The share of homes sold that are affordable to a family making the median income dropped from 64.9 percent in 2019 Q4 to 22.3 percent in 2022 Q2, while overall in the U.S. it plunged from 63.2 percent to 42.8 percent. Arizona’s labor market remains very tight. As the economy slows, the labor market will loosen and wage gains will moderate,” he added.
