- Texas Real Estate News
- Posts
- Austin tops in housing affordability gains
Austin tops in housing affordability gains
Plus: Six of America’s top 10 hottest zip codes for real estate are in Texas
🪄 Voila! It's Thursday, and we're back to discuss the DOJ lawsuit, the hottest zip codes, Austin's affordability, and much more.
Today's newsletter is 753 words — a 3-minute read.
1. DOJ has filed a lawsuit against six of the nation's largest landlords, two of which are based in Texas
On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced a lawsuit against six of the nation’s largest landlords, arguing that they conspired to drive up rent by using anti-competitive pricing algorithms and sharing information.
Among the six companies sued are Houston-based Camden Property Trust and Dallas-based Willow Bridge Property Company. The remaining four companies are Greystar Real Estate Partners, Cushman & Wakefield Inc and Pinnacle Property Management Services, Blackstone’s LivCor and Cortland Management.
“While Americans across the country struggled to afford housing, the landlords named in today’s lawsuit shared sensitive information about rental prices and used algorithms to coordinate to keep the price of rent high. Today’s action against RealPage and six major landlords seeks to end their practice of putting profits over people”
2. Report: Austin tops in housing affordability improvements
According to a new analysis by Redfin, Austin saw the greatest improvement in housing affordability last year among the nation's largest metros.
In Austin, a household making the $103,717 median income in 2024 would have had to spend 39.6% of their earnings on monthly housing costs if they bought the $444,928 median-priced home there, down from 42.8% in 2023.
Other Texas metros that reported improved affordability levels were:
San Antonio: down 2.3 percentage points, dropping to 35.4% of household income.
Dallas: down 2 percentage points, dropping to 38.9% of household income.
Fort Worth: down 1.6 percentage points, dropping to 36.7% of household income.
A MESSAGE FROM THE DAILY UPSIDE
It's Time To Rethink Your Media Diet
Financial news is full of clickbait and fear tactics, wasting your time and clouding your judgment. The Daily Upside delivers expert insights—free every morning. Join 1M+ readers today!
3. Catch up quick
🔥 Six of America’s top 10 hottest zip codes for real estate are in Texas. (Opendoor)
🏈 Former quarterback Colt McCoy launches Fort Worth office for real estate firm HPI. (BusinessWire)
📅 Real estate events to keep an eye on in 2025. (BAM)
🏡 The number of home listings above $1M in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has increased. (Axios)
🏞️ Fun read: The 10 largest ranches in the state. (MySA)
4. Nate Paul seeks to dismiss federal fraud charges
Nate Paul, founder of the real estate company World Class Holdings, is seeking to dismiss bank and wire fraud charges related to his firm. He is accused of defrauding banks and investors to secure $172 million in loans, which allegedly funded his real estate empire.
With the trial slated for April, Paul’s defense aims to dismiss the charges, arguing that prosecutors failed to prove he acted intentionally. They also seek to split the case into two trials, citing separate schemes for the bank and wire fraud counts.
5. Amy Lessinger resigns as RE/MAX President
Yesterday, Eric Carlson, the CEO of RE/MAX, announced Amy Lessinger will be resigning from her position as President of the Company. Her final day with the company will be Friday, January 17, 2025.
Lessinger, who stepped into the role in February 2024, served just over 10 months as President after Nick Bailey’s departure. She first joined RE/MAX in 1998 as a real estate agent before opening a RE/MAX Realty Affiliate branch in Reno. In 2020, she joined RE/MAX corporate after selling her ownership interest in the brokerage.
6. NAHB joins 15 states in lawsuit against HUD
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has joined 15 states in a legal complaint to prevent the adoption of new minimum energy-efficiency standards for newly constructed homes.
NAHB joins Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia in the lawsuit against the HUD and the USDA.
NAHB chairman Carl Harris said compliance with the 2021 IECC can add more than $22,000 to the average price of a new home, while homebuilders estimate operating costs will increase by an average of $31,000.
“NAHB is the only private entity in this lawsuit seeking to halt HUD and USDA from adopting the 2021 IECC because homebuilders can document how this egregious regulation will needlessly raise housing costs and hurt the nation’s most vulnerable home buyers and renters.”
A MESSAGE FROM THE RUNDOWN AI
Learn AI in 5 minutes a day
What’s the secret to staying ahead of the curve in the world of AI? Information. Luckily, you can join 800,000+ early adopters reading The Rundown AI — the free newsletter that makes you smarter on AI with just a 5-minute read per day.
☀️ Thank you for starting your day with us!
If you like this newsletter, your friends may too. Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.
Interested in advertising to 50k+ Texas Realtors? Email [email protected]