Why Evictions in the Sunbelt Remain So High

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Eviction levels across the nation have largely settled back at their pre-pandemic levels. But there’s a notable exception: the Sunbelt.

America’s southwest, including states like Texas and Florida, has been one of the hottest real estate destinations. But in several Sunbelt cities, eviction filings are still a whopping 35% higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to data from Princeton University’s Eviction Lab reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

What’s Causing Evictions?

While stronger tenant protections in cities, such as Philadelphia and New York, help keep nationwide eviction count lower, landlords in Phoenix, Arizona filed a record 8,000 evictions in January alone.

So what is going on in the Sunbelt? Supply-demand dynamics are at play.

Americans headed south during the pandemic, attracted by a lower cost of living, housing, and job opportunities. The Sunbelt has remained popular since then, with companies investing heavily in the region. In 2023, all ten of the fastest-growing U.S. counties were in the South.

But this means that demand is high, and rents are rising quickly in its wake. This is what’s causing the increase in evictions. Unpaid rent is the most common driver of eviction filings. Pandemic-era rental assistance helped existing tenants buy some time, but these programs have largely dried up.

Automation Angle

Another contributing factor may be the increased use of automated property management software, which makes it easier for landlords to file evictions and diminishes the tenant’s ability to negotiate payment terms, according to WSJ.

Either way, the trend of rising evictions in high demand zipcodes is fueling the two-speed economy Americans are finding themselves in. For wealthier households, opportunities remain for work, investing, and housing. But for lower-earning households, keeping up with the overall higher cost of living after years of high inflation, is making it challenging to make ends meet.

Despite a strong job market and stock indexes reaching all-time highs, many Americans are struggling to afford one necessity: housing.

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