Does Texas have a housing affordability crisis? An overwhelming majority of respondents in a new University of Houston/Texas Southern University poll would say so.
90% of those asked said housing costs in the state are an issue, with 44% saying it’s a “big problem” and 46% characterizing it as “somewhat of a problem.”
Mark Jones, senior research fellow at University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, spoke with Texas Standard’s about the survey’s findings. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Let’s talk this top-line takeaway. Seems like a lot of Texans feel that there is something crisis-like out there when it comes to housing.
Mark Jones: That’s definitely the case. Nine out of ten Texans, that’s 90%, consider housing affordability to be a problem in their part of Texas, and 44% say it’s a big problem – 46% somewhat of a problem. But nine out of ten.
Only 10% say that housing affordability isn’t a problem. So that’s something that pretty much all Texans agree on.
Well zooming in, can you break down how different income levels perceive this issue? Does that seem to be the core distinguishing feature here?
Well, so everybody agrees that it’s a problem. Where you start to see a little bit of differences – if it’s a big problem or somewhat of a problem.
And so we do find that lower-income individuals view it as much more likely to be a big problem than higher-income individuals, and that Latino Texans and Black Texans are more likely than white Texans to view it as a big problem. Everyone views as a problem, but the severity is greater in the eyes of Latinos and Black Texans, and also among Texans who are earning less than $60,000 a year in terms of their family income.
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So, I guess what would you conclude from that? That those having greater trouble – at least, living closer to the margins when it comes to their means and what housing costs are – they’re clearly going to perceive this as a much more serious issue?
That’s definitely the case. And then it’s also people [are] generally comparing it to looking at their neighborhood, in their neighborhood, their region of the city, the county. There tend to be more people who are really struggling with housing affordability than is the case in some of the wealthier areas of the state.
What does this mean from a policy standpoint? I mean, we’ve talked in the past about how the Legislature is going to be reconvening at the start of the new year. I’m curious what the takeaway might be for those trying to come up with some way to deal with this as an issue. Clearly, a lot of Texans feeling the pressure.
Well, I think one interesting thing is that first, it’s widespread consensus. So it’s not one that sort of just a segment of the population has. Virtually every Texan, nine out of ten, believe that housing affordability is an issue.
And even when we go down to the partisan level and we look at sort of the idea of pursuing government policies to address and provide for more affordable housing for low and middle income Texans, we find that two thirds of Democrats, but half of Republicans, favor that. So there is room for consensus and building a policy coalition to address this issue that’s bipartisan when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Are you hearing of any sort of pressure or any impulse to bring about changes on that policy front, from your perspective?
Well, I think there is. Where you get differences is in how to actually achieve these benefits that are essentially making housing more affordable.
Republicans in Austin are tending to focus quite a bit on some of the complaints related to school property taxes, whereas Democrats are looking at ways to provide more housing via government programs and government subsidies. But overall, there is room for compromise.
And one thing where we found homeowners, but also renters, identified as a major source of strain for them were utility bills. With homeowners, also locating homeowner’s insurance as an increasing source of their financial strain.
