Tobias Peter is a senior fellow and the codirector of the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center, where he focuses on housing risk and mortgage markets.
After years of watching home prices skyrocket out of reach for first responders, nurses, and young families, in December 2023, Austin city council voted to rewrite its zoning code. The first phase of its HOME Initiative—known as HOME-1—effectively allowed up to three homes on most lots that previously could host only one. A year later,...
Large Texas municipalities have just been handed an enormous opportunity by the legislature. They should seize it. For such a large state, Texas is blessed with a rare advantage: relatively affordable housing. But clouds are gathering. In the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, home prices have surged 170% since January 2012, squeezing first-time and move-up buyers alike....