Grand Canyon Times

League of American Workers founder Steve Cortes has set out to investigate an affordable housing emergency in Arizona, an issue he labeled as “systemic, pervasive and real.”

The documentary, produced by Cortes, posted on X and titled “What’s Behind America’s Housing Affordability Crisis?” examines that situation in Arizona, where many people say they have been priced out of the American Dream.

“We asked if housing is affordable to middle-class families in this state, and 88% of Arizonans said it is not. That’s a stunning number and if you follow polling closely, you’ll know that in this polarized time in America, to get 88% of Americans in a key swing state to agree that housing is unaffordable tells us that this problem is systemic, it is pervasive and it is real,” Cortes said.

While Cortes called affordable housing “a nationwide problem,” he said he centered his documentary in Arizona because the effects of the problem are felt more acutely and more intensely there.

In the documentary, Cortes interviewed an Arizona Realtor named Victoria Lem, who provided her analysis on the issue.

“I have people that call me all the time that work in Mesa, that currently are renting or have to move out because their rent is going up. But they’re moving on the outskirts; I mean, not just the outskirts of Mesa or Phoenix or you know, Scottsdale. They’re moving way out, between Tucson and Phoenix. You know, they’re moving 100 miles away, in between there, trying to get something that’s more affordable,” Lem said.

Cortes added that many people are being priced out of housing in Arizona’s more desirable areas to live and asked Lem about a study conducted by the University of Arizona, regarding housing affordability in Tucson and its surrounding vicinity.

“Currently, 38% of homes that are sold are actually affordable to the average Tucson family. So, as some people are hanging onto old homes like I am, you know, 20 years in at my home, but if I moved, where would I go? I’m going to be tripling, maybe even quadrupling my mortgage and that’s just not sustainable for me, with two grown kids at home,” Lem said.

“If we’re being priced out, I’m surprised that the media is speaking like our economy is doing great and housing is OK. If we’re being priced out of our normal grocery list as families, how are we supposed to afford our mortgages?”

Cortes is a political advisor and commentator. He previously traded global currencies and interest rates for 25 years for large international hedge funds. He has been an on-air broadcaster for CNBC, Fox News and CNN. Cortes founded LAW in 2022 to conduct research and develops proposals on public policies impacting American workers and the economy.