Austin Tackles Affordable Housing Again. Anyone Care?
Who pays if we don’t create affordable housing for Austin real estate?
This question was posed at the Austin Neighborhood Housing and Community Development’s Affordable Housing Forum, held last Friday (June 13). The third in the forum series on affordable housing issues for real estate in Austin featured Ken Bacon, VP for Housing and Community Development at Fannie Mae. (Fannie Mae recently reduced down-payment requirements nationwide).
Austin real estate consistently ranks among the fastest-growing metro areas in the nation. Demand continues to rise for housing. We recently wrote about the issue of affordable housing in Austin, citing key issues facing developers and investors. One example of development problems in Central and East Austin includes the building of duplexes on infill lots.
Are the duplexed condos more affordable than regular Austin homes or are developers just going for double their money?
Read more about the super-duplex debate in Central Austin.
Many Austinites are deeling the pinch from housing costs, real estate property tax increases, and gas prices. Even now, some of my friends cannot afford the median Austin home price of $250-280,000, which equates to at least $2200-$2500 per month with taxes and insurance.
Other upcoming forum topics include Transit-Oriented Development and Affordable Housing, Integration of Special Needs Housing, Local Property Taxes and Affordable Housing, and Affordable Housing for Families.
Read also: Modern Prefab Homes as an Affordable Green Alternative
For more information on the Affordable Housing Forum Series, contact Kelly Stewart Nichols at (512) 974-9375 or Kelly.nichols@ci.austin.tx.us.
Popularity: 90% [?]
Tags: affordable housing, Austin Real Estate News, green, prefab, special needs housing, transit oriented development
June 17th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Austin will be facing plethora of issues as it continues to grow. Hopefully the city will keep an open dialogue with its constituents and learn from the mistakes that other similar cites have made in the past.
[Reply]
June 29th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I have seen and heard other cities try to make their homes affordable and the only thing that really works is when the cities realize that growth is going to happen, and plan accordingly to allow for building to commence. By allowing new supple to hit the market quickly and easy it keeps prices more at bay and keeps development costs down.
[Reply]