Median home price in 2012: $135,000
Projected home price in 2015: $162,053
Projected annual rent in 2015: $12,268
Phoenix has become an investor's market, with many of the city's properties being turned into rentals to house those displaced after the housing bubble collapsed.
Demand for rental properties in the area has helped rents climb by about 7% over the past two years, according to Rent Jungle.
Also on the rise is the local economy. "Phoenix is doing much better than I thought it would," he said Winzer. "The economy has recovered nicely, growing 2.2% over the past 12 months."
But for investors, the best time to act may be sooner rather than later. Housing inventory in Phoenix has shrunk and home prices are on the rise. During the first three months of the year, home prices were more than 5% higher than they were in the year-ago period.
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