Sections

About Us

 
Make a Donation
Local • Independent • Essential News
 

The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Housing

Council responds to report finding 'affordable' condos aren't always affordable

City Council approved a resolution on Dec. 8 addressing barriers to affordable condo ownership, acting on findings from a report by the University of Texas School of Law that expensive condo fees and improper property tax assessments can push below-market…

Austin deals with growing pains of being rare real estate 'supernova'

If the last decade of booming real estate growth has earned Austin the designation of being one of four “supernova” markets, according to the national Urban Land Institute (Nashville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte being the others), then the onset of an…

Council relaxes compatibility requirements along selected corridors

City Council has approved changes to building compatibility standards that will allow for some increases in housing density along a handful of transit corridors. The ordinance amending City Code Title 25 was approved Friday, modifying parking requirements and allowing for…

Austin's program to sell homes to people affected by gentrification off to slow start

The city of Austin has not yet sold one of the two dozen homes it began marketing six months ago to low-income families affected by displacement and the influx of wealth into neighborhoods. This is the city’s first attempt at using…

ECHO offers lease incentives to real estate agents for placing homeless tenants

Real estate agents in Austin have an incentive to find market-rate homes for those experiencing homelessness, and help one of the city’s main homeless services nonprofits lower the number of people facing housing instability. Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, known…

Eviction rates are skyrocketing in Travis County, says HHS

Eviction rates have shot up more than 250 percent of the average in the Austin area, according to Travis County Health and Human Services. “We have been absolutely inundated with crisis applications,” Kirsten Siegfried, HHS chief deputy, told the Travis County…

Subscribe to our newsletter

Builder: Without new affordability bonds, projects would be 'few and far between'

The new round of bonds providing $350 million to fund affordable projects couldn’t have come at a better time for developers of affordable housing in Austin. The combination of fierce land costs locally, inflation increasing construction costs on all housing…

Homes in Austin’s white neighborhoods are valued much higher than ones in communities of color

People of color in Austin can expect their homes to be worth nearly three times less than homes owned by white residents, according to a new report. Researchers with Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Illinois-Chicago found that,…

ASPIRE project to bring affordable housing, business training to North Austin

BiGAUSTIN, the Black-led nonprofit group that has provided microlending, business training and workforce assistance for nearly 30 years, has announced plans to construct a massive new community resource center and affordable housing community in a partnership with Banc of America…

Council approves ordinances to strengthen renters’ rights

City Council approved two ordinances Thursday enshrining the right of tenants to organize and to remedy lease violations prior to eviction.  As rents in Austin continue to rise, tenant advocates say the ordinances are increasingly necessary to help prevent eviction…

Council to close tenant relocation ordinance loophole

City Council approved a resolution requesting that staff review the tenant relocation ordinance and propose changes ensuring the protections apply to tenants at mobile home parks. The tenant relocation ordinance, which Council passed in 2016, requires that landlords provide notice…

Study finds middle-income housing fund outperforms high-dollar real estate

An Austin investment fund created to support and stabilize middle-income rental housing has been verified as an attractive and viable investment by researchers from two Texas universities. Affordable Central Texas, which began acquiring middle-income rental communities in late 2018, has…

Back to Top