In cities dominated by single-family neighborhoods, local leaders across Texas want a broader variety of housing to combat the affordability crisis.
. As the state’s housing affordability crisis escalates, leaders of Texas’ biggest cities are increasingly reaching the same conclusion: Their cities need more homes.
From Austin to Fort Worth, local officials are eyeing proposals to blunt their city’s rampant unaffordability by loosening local regulations that housing advocates say get in the way of allowing more homes to be built. It’s a solution increasingly embraced by local and state policymakers across the country, and even the most recent threeA crucial part of the equation: Texas cities are dominated by single-family neighborhoods.
“There is no one single perfect solution to housing affordability, and as our city continues to grow I am focused on ensuring we have that right mix of strategies that have long-term impact," Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said.Home prices in Texas’ largest metro areas rose so much in the last several years that the typical for-sale home is out-of-reach for most families living there,
Officials in Austin, Dallas and Houston are trying to make it easier to build such housing in traditionally single-family neighborhoods without totally upsetting the character of those neighborhoods. With that growth came higher housing costs. The typical home in Dallas-Fort Worth went for less than $300,000 in the months before the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to Texas A&M data. At the height of the state’s hot housing market last year, the median sales price soared more than 60% — growing past $400,000. The market has since cooled amid higher interest rates, but the median home price in the region is 50% higher than it was before the pandemic.
That pace of building has left the region with a dire shortage of housing that’s at least partially responsible for its higher home prices and rents, experts say., the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area needed more than 85,000 housing units than it had in 2019 — before the region added more than 200,000 households over the pandemic. Low-income renters feel the housing shortage most acutely as they compete with higher-income households for limited rental stock, Flores said.
Even Houston, the most affordable large city in the country, is trying to allow more homes to be built as home prices and rents grow out of reach for its residents. In late September, the Houston City Council sought to allow more “missing middle” housing byto make it easier for developers to build three to eight housing units on a given lot.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
$360 million lottery jackpot is largest ever won by a Texas player, Texas Lottery saysA $360 million jackpot from an Oct. 6 drawing is the largest Mega Millions prize ever won by a Texas player.
Read more »
NFL Week 5: Falcons 21, Texans 19 — Four Winners, Four LosersDuring the first four games of the Houston Texans' 2023 season, they've won at home, they've lost at home. They've lost on the road, they've won on the road. The one thing they had not done, as of Sunday morning, though, was play in a close game. Their two losses...
Read more »
Atlanta 21, Houston 19: How Falcons rallied to beat TexansThe Atlanta Falcons kicked a field goal as time expired to beat Houston and end Texans' two-game winning streak.
Read more »
Houston Texans: Day belongs not only to J.J., but C.J. as wellC.J. Stroud might be a mere rookie, but the QB who's led back-to-back Texans wins is showing hints of greatness that put J.J. Watt in the team's Ring of Honor.
Read more »