People's salaries here do not even come close to being able to afford these homes. Not sure how they do it, though.
We bought our home in late '95 for 85k, and today it is selling for over 210k.
Phoenix is run by a democrat mayor.
That's been true in California and NYC for decades, and in the DC Metro area for 10 years at least. Becoming that way in the Delaware Valley/Philly/Wilmington area, and Charlotte, most of Florida, Boston (again after a period of reasonable prices in the 90s) and the Seattle Metro.