Majority of Texans say housing costs are too much, poll shows

SEATTLE - Nine out of ten Texans say the state has a housing affordability crisis, according to a poll released on Aug. 8 conducted by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University. Ninety percent of the participants told pollsters that housing affordability is a problem, and more than half of them said they face some amount of financial strain resulting from high housing costs.

"To have nine out of 10 Texans agree on anything is really tough," said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University and a senior research fellow at the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston. "I think what that says is that at the very highest level, housing affordability is an issue that transcends partisan politics."

Although, a smaller majority of Texans think the government should do something to solve the crisis. About 54% of those polled said they would favor government policies to boost the amount of affordable rental housing for lower and middle income Texans, while 26% say they oppose such measures.

According to a report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, buyers now have to make at least six figures in order to purchase a home in major urban areas, including some in the state of Texas. A family would need to make more than $100,000 if they want to purchase a home in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth regions, according to the center. In Austin, buyers need to make more than $140,000 to afford a roof over their heads at the median sales price.

Those who can not afford buying a home have to rent, but high rent prices have left them with little room to put money away for a future down payment or mortgage. A record 2.1 million renter households — more than half of those in the state — are "cost-burdened," meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. Of those, nearly 1.1 million put at least half of their income toward rent and utilities, which means they are "severely" cost-burdened, according to Harvard University.

Similarly, a report by Forbes and Redfin earlier this year also showed an increase for the median home price in 2023. The U.S. median home price had an increase of 2% compared to 2022 even though there were more than 300,000 fewer homes on the market. According to Redfin's monthly housing data, buying a home in Texas in 2023 costed approximately $348,000.

Despite the general consensus that housing affordability is a problem for Texans, some think it is more of a problem than others. For example, Latino and Black Texans are more likely than white Texans to see housing affordability as a major issue, the UH/TSU poll found.

Lawmakers in Texas will convene in Austin next year to tackle the housing issue. One idea to solve the growing housing crisis is reducing or eliminating city zoning and land-use rules that determine what kind of housing can be built and where.

Housing advocates believe these policies get in the way of adding enough homes, and curbing or getting rid of them would bring down home prices and rest.