This article originally appeared in the New York Times.
Luke Muir and his wife moved to Phoenix from Louisiana two years ago for a better-paying job. They prepared for higher temperatures and low housing costs. The weather has lived up to their expectations; housing prices have not. Pretty much since they arrived, Mr. Muir and his family have been trying and failing to find a single-family house for no more than $500,000. The options have been too small, too remote or too much of a fixer-upper.