{"id":18290,"date":"2024-02-09T14:32:11","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T14:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=18290"},"modified":"2024-02-09T14:33:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T14:33:55","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-2-4-2-2-3-2-4-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-1-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/abr-grants0224","title":{"rendered":"Austin REALTORS\u00ae Leverages Multiple REALTOR\u00ae Party Grants in Support of Missing Middle Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As one of NAR\u2019s designated \u2018Mega Boards,\u2019 Austin REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> (ABoR) is <\/span>big<\/span><\/i>, and it is <\/span>busy<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Last year, beginning with its support for the City Council\u2019s <\/span>Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment (HOME) Resolution<\/span><\/a> \u2013 initiating code amendments to reduce the minimum lot size to 2,500 square feet or less and allow for up to three residential dwelling units per lot \u2013 the association embarked on a series of efforts <\/span>to spur an increase in sorely needed \u2018missing middle\u2019 housing.\u00a0 Using a variety of REALTOR<\/span>\u00ae<\/span><\/b> Party resources, it is making great strides.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Deputy Director of Government Affairs Taylor Smith explains that his team has been working closely with Austin\u2019s elected officials to foster a better understanding of the local housing market \u2013 and what is missing from it.\u00a0 \u201cThis began with strategic conversations, discussing our public policy priorities with Council Members, asking them what policies they were working on, and exploring what policy issues we could partner on together to advance.\u00a0 We are also reached out to the community, to highlight the need for more housing in Austin, show the benefits of missing middle housing and what it looks like, and explain how allowing more housing will serve our growing population.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In July,\u202f<\/span>ABoR hosted the 2023 Central Texas Housing Summit<\/span><\/a> with support from a <\/span>Housing Opportunity Grant<\/span><\/a>. \u202fThe sold-out in-person event was also streamed online, and featured a keynote address by the Mayor of Austin, updates on the economy and the housing market, and a high-level \u2018<\/span>Buy vs. Rent<\/span><\/a>\u202fIndex\u2019 presentation by ABoR Housing Economist Dr. Clare Losey.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In August, the association released a ground-breaking report called \u2018<\/span>The Truth About Austin\u2019s Missing Housing<\/span><\/a>,\u2019 in which Dr. Losey\u2019s research into housing supply and demand <\/span>in Travis County and the City of Austin, across various price ranges and based on five distinct income cohorts, revealed a severe undersupply throughout the region.\u00a0 The report also addresses common barriers to missing middle housing and provides actionable policy recommendations to correct the shortfalls.\u00a0 In November, ABoR released a companion-report, \u2018<\/span>The Truth About Austin\u2019s Missing Housing \u2013 District Level Analysis<\/span><\/a>,\u2019 <\/span>breaking down the housing undersupply by the ten Austin City Council Districts and among five racial\/ethnic groups.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the fall, with support from both a <\/span>Consumer Advocacy Grant<\/span><\/a> and an <\/span>Issues Mobilization Grant<\/span><\/a> from the REALTOR<\/span>\u00ae<\/span><\/b> Party, ABoR conducted the \u2018<\/span>Attainable Austin<\/span><\/a>\u2019 campaign to educate the community and dispel misinformation about how proposed land use changes will affect Austin\u2019s housing supply.\u00a0 Turning education into advocacy, the campaign also equipped the public to contact City Council members<\/span> and urge them to approve <\/span>Phase 1 of the HOME Initiative: <\/span>the code amendments that would permit three residential units by right on single-family zoned lots.\u00a0 In early December, the <\/span>Austin City Council approved the ordinance on a 9 – 2 vote.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSupport from the REALTOR<\/span>\u00ae<\/span><\/b> Party made it possible for us to move quickly and nimbly when we needed to,\u201d notes Elizabeth Patton, ABoR\u2019s Government Affairs Coordinator.\u00a0 \u201cAnd our elected officials and other community stakeholders have come to expect the Housing Summit every year, giving us a great opportunity to give them the lay of the land, as well as our recommendations.\u00a0 It\u2019s an important part of our advocacy, and we\u2019re grateful for the help that the REALTOR Party provides for it!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about how Austin REALTORS<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> is leveraging multiple layers of REALTOR<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> Party resources to support the growing city\u2019s housing needs, contact Deputy Director of Government Affairs Taylor Smith at <\/span>tsmith@abor.com<\/span><\/a> or 512.533.4927; or Elizabeth Patton, Government Affairs Coordinator, at <\/span>epatton@abor.com<\/span><\/a> or 512.533.4913.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With strong support from Austin REALTORS\u00ae, in 2023, the City of Austin approved the Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment (HOME) Resolution, initiating code amendments to reduce the minimum lot size to 2,500 square feet or less and allow for up to three residential dwelling units per lot. Backed by a variety of REALTOR\u00ae Party resources, the REALTORS\u00ae are maintaining the momentum toward increasing \u2018missing middle\u2019 housing.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,33,296],"tags":[510,442,523,1705,433,204,575,415],"class_list":["post-18290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-action-grants","tag-austin","tag-austin-board-of-realtors","tag-consumer-advocacy-grant","tag-grant","tag-housing-opportunity","tag-issues-mobilization-grant","tag-texas"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}