For all the talk of Texas' relatively affordable housing prices, the city of Austin is one of the worst examples of one of the dominant trends in the U.S. real estate market—fewer and fewer options for affordable rental housing.
"Austin’s share of housing units that rented for $800 or less shrunk 20 percent between 2005 and 2015, more than any other metropolitan area," reports Leah Binkovitz. That information is one of the findings included in the latest State of the Nation’s Housing report [pdf] from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The decline of the number of affordable rental units has been one of the main talking points to emerge from this year's report.
"New Orleans fell just behind Austin, with its portion of rental units at the $800 or below rate shrinking by 19.5 percent," adds Binkovitz. "Houston’s supply of some of its cheapest rental units, meanwhile, shrunk by 13.1 percent in the same time frame."
FULL STORY: Rent for $800 or Less? Share of Cheap Units Available Shrinking in Most Metros
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