Austin, TX
As rents across the country go up, Austin prices continue to fall – Austin Monitor
Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/ KUT News
During the pandemic, Austin came to exemplify the story of housing across the country: Prices went through the roof. In 2021, the average monthly rent in the region rose 25 percent. Similar increases happened in cities in California and Arizona.
But that narrative has flipped. As tens of thousands of new apartments have opened in Austin and the rate of people moving to the city has slowed, rent prices have been falling. For more than a year.
According to new numbers from Zillow, Austin is now leading the country in declining rents. But this time few other large U.S. cities are following.
The typical monthly rent in the Austin metro is down nearly 4 percent compared to last summer. Rents in similarly priced cities – including Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta – are rising. The average monthly rent in Austin is now anywhere between roughly $1,500 and $1,800.
In the early years of the pandemic, demand for apartments rose. Tens of thousands of people moved to the city because they could suddenly work remotely. Meanwhile, some residents already living here decided to leave shared living situations and find apartments on their own.
In response to the demand for housing, rent prices rose at an incredible pace. To builders, this indicated a need and a business opportunity: more homes.
“A lot of builders … they look at the demographics and they look at the job growth and they look at projections and they say, ‘You know what, this is going to be a good place for me to build,’” Kim Betancourt, vice president of multifamily research at mortgage-backer Fannie Mae, said. “This is what happened with Austin.”
In 2021, local governments in the Austin area issued permits to build nearly 51,000 homes, according to census data. While not every developer that receives a permit eventually builds, this represents a rate of permitting much higher than in other cities at the time.
Because construction takes several years, apartments permitted years ago are now opening. At the same time, the population surge that defined Austin in 2020 and 2021 has slowed.
More homes, fewer new people. Thus, rent prices began to fall last summer.
“It’s that building bonanza that helped to bring costs back down to earth,” Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, said.
Divounguy stressed that “back down to earth” does not necessarily mean more affordable. In 2022, nearly half of all renters in the Austin area lived in housing they could not afford, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Economists predict that Austin’s falling rents won’t last beyond next year. Because of construction costs, developers are building less than they were just two years ago.
“It’s not gonna last long,” Betancourt said.
This story was produced as part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting partnership with KUT.
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Softball, the nation’s No. 2 seed at the 2026 NCAA Tournament, opens the Austin Regional vs. NEC Tournament Champion Wagner at 3 p.m. CT Friday, May 15, at McCombs Field. The game will stream on ESPN+ with Cat Osterman (analyst) and Alex Loeb (play-by-play) on the call. Fans can also tune into Andrew Haynes on Texas’ radio broadcast on https://texas.leanplayer.com/ or the iHeart Radio app.
Notes
- Wagner, Baylor and Wisconsin are joining Texas at the Austin Regional. Prior to Texas’ game vs. Wagner on Friday, Baylor (28-26) and Wisconsin (32-19) will clash at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+. The winner of the Austin Regional will advance to play the winner of the College Station Regional.
- Texas is making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance, including its 21st-consecutive tournament. The Longhorns are 57-30 all-time during NCAA regionals.
- Texas has made the NCAA Tournament in every year under head coach Mike White. Under White, Texas has clinched six top-13 national seeds at the tournament.
- It marks the fourth-straight year in which Texas has earned a national seed (1 through 16). Texas’ four-consecutive national seeds ties for the longest streak in program history. It last happened from 2010 to 2013. Additionally, Texas has collected three-consecutive top-six national seeds.
- Texas’ No. 2 national seed is the second-highest national seed in program history, behind the 2024 team’s No. 1 overall seed. Last season, Texas was selected as the No. 6 overall seed and went on to win the program’s first Women’s College World Series with a 10-2 postseason run.
- Texas won the program’s first SEC Tournament title and fifth overall conference tournament crown on May 9.
- Junior first baseman Katie Stewart became the program’s first SEC Player of the Year after earning the award on May 8. Stewart is the fourth Longhorn to garner conference player of the year, joining Reese Atwood (2024), Taylor Thom (2014) and Amy Hooks (2011).
- Freshman RHP/DP Hannah Wells tied the program’s freshman home run record of 13, which was set by Katie Stewart in 2024.
- Against Oklahoma on April 10, junior RHP Teagan Kavan became the sixth player in program history to eclipse 500 career strikeouts. Kavan, who currently has 572 career strikeouts, joins Cat Osterman (2,265), Blaire Luna (1,428), Meagan Denny (988), Christa Williams (678) and Tiarra Davis (508) as the only players in program history to reach 500 career Ks. Kavan’s 572 career strikeouts rank fifth in program history.
All Eyes on the Longhorns
- Texas’ SEC Tournament Championship game vs. Alabama on May 9 was the most-watched college softball game this season, bringing in 847,000 viewers.
- Texas also had the top two most-watched regular season game this season vs. Georgia on April 19 with 725,000 viewers watching. The second-most watched college softball game this year was between the Longhorns and Oklahoma on April 11 when 700,000 tuned in.
- Three of Texas’ games were in the top 5 of college softball’s most viewed games during the regular season.
- Texas vs. Oklahoma on April 12 brought in 581,000 viewers, making it the third-most watched college softball game of the regular season.
Series History
- Texas and Wagner will be playing each other for the first time in history on Friday.
- Both Texas and Wagner received automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament after winning their conference tournament titles.
- Former Big 12 conference foes, Texas and Baylor have played 70 times with Texas leading the all-time series, 44-26.
- The Longhorns have won seven-straight games vs. the Bears.
- Texas and Wisconsin have played each other 11 times with Texas leading the all-time series, 8-3. The Horns and Badgers last played each other in 2023 with Texas winning two games, 7-4 and 5-1, in Austin.
SEC Tournament Champs!
- Texas won the program’s first SEC Tournament Championship on May 9 with a 7-1 victory over second-seed Alabama.
- Teagan Kavan was named the tournament’s MVP. Kavan, Viviana Martinez, Leighann Goode and Jaycie Nichols were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
- It was Texas’ fifth overall conference tournament title and the first conference tournament crown since 2005.
- The Longhorns have won five conference tournament championships (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2026) in seven of their championship game appearances (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2023, 2024 and 2026). Texas earns its first conference tournament title under head coach Mike White. Under White, Texas has played in a conference tournament championship in three of the last four seasons. The Big 12 Conference did not host a conference tournament from 2011-2016.
NCAA Austin Regional Schedule (all game times listed in Central)
*More information about broadcast designations will be communicated throughout the week
Friday, May 15
12:30 p.m. – Game 1: Baylor vs. Wisconsin (ESPN+)
3 p.m. – Game 2: Texas vs. Wagner (ESPN+)
Saturday, May 16
12 p.m. – Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
2:30 p.m. – Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
5 p.m. – Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Sunday, May 17
12 p.m. – Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 (if necessary)
Please note that game times are subject to change due to game length and a mandatory 35-minute break between each game.
AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin-based improv troupe is celebrating a major milestone with performances in Texas and on a national stage.
Jane Austin Improv celebrates third anniversary with Texas shows & a national NYC stage
Jane Austin Improv is marking its third anniversary with a series of shows, including a headlining performance at the Long Center’s Rollins Studio Theatre on June 6.
The award-winning group is known for blending Regency-era storytelling with improv comedy, bringing Jane Austen-inspired characters, costumes and courtship drama to life with quick wit and audience-driven humor.
MORE | #TBT: ‘Jane Austin Improv’ brings 18th-century romance and modern humor to world stages
Following their Austin shows, the troupe will perform in New York City at the Del Close Marathon, one of the country’s premier improv comedy festivals.
Jane Austin Improv celebrates third anniversary with Texas shows & a national NYC stage
Jane Austin Improv has grown from local stages to performances across the U.S. and internationally, earning multiple nominations from the B. Iden Payne Awards, winning the 2023 Ethel Hinkley Award for Outstanding New Improv Troupe, and being named a “Best of Austin” finalist by the Austin Chronicle in 2025.
Organizers say the anniversary performances celebrate both the group’s growth and its mission to connect audiences through creative, accessible comedy.
Tickets for the June 6 performance at the Long Center can be found here: https://thelongcenter.org/events/janeaustinimprov/
After ranking as the third-best large U.S. city for starting a business last year, Austin took a surprising tumble into the 24th spot nationally for 2026.
WalletHub’s annual report, “Best Large Cities to Start a Business (2026)” compared 100 U.S. cities based on 19 relevant metrics across three key dimensions: business environment, access to resources, and costs. Factors that were analyzed include five-year business survival rates, job growth comparisons from 2020 and 2024, population growth of working-age individuals aged 16-64, office space affordability, and more.
Florida cities locked other states out of the top five best places in America for starting a new business: Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Hialeah, and St. Petersburg.
Austin’s business environment ranked 11th best in the country, and the city ranked ninth in the “access to resources” category. The city also tied with Boise, Idaho, and Fresno, California, for the highest average growth in the number of small businesses nationally.
Austin lagged behind in the “business costs” ranking, coming in at No. 80 overall. This category examined metrics such as the city’s working-age population growth, the share of college-educated individuals, financing accessibility, the prevalence of investors, venture investment amounts per capita, and more.
Earlier this year, WalletHub declared Texas the third-best state for starting a business in 2026, and several Houston-area cities have seen robust growth after being recognized among the best career hotspots in the U.S. WalletHub also ranked Austin on its top-10 list of the best U.S. cities to find a job. Entrepreneurial praise has also been extended to 15 Austin-based innovators that made Inc Magazine’s 2026 Female Founders 500 list.
Texas cities with strong environments for new businesses
Multiple cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex can claim bragging rights as the best Texas locales for starting a new business. Dallas ranked highest overall — appearing 11th nationally — and Irving landed a few spots behind in the 16th spot. Arlington (No. 23), Fort Worth (No. 30), Plano, (No. 35), and Garland (No. 65) followed behind.
Only six other Texas cities earned spots in the report: Houston (No. 26), Lubbock (No. 36), Corpus Christi (No. 39), San Antonio (No. 64), El Paso (No. 67), and Laredo (No. 76). Corpus Christi and Laredo also topped WalletHub’s list of the U.S. cities with the most accessible financing.
“From the Gold Rush and the Industrial Revolution to the Internet Age, periods of innovation have shaped our economy and driven major societal progress,” the report’s author wrote. “However, the past few years have been particularly challenging for business owners in the U.S., due to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Great Resignation and high inflation.”
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