[AusTex]

[QUOTE=JoninATX;5765855]My friends mom was paying $650 for her one bedroom apartment in north Austin last year, and now shes paying nearly $900 a month thats outrageous.QUOTE]

YES IT IS....however if her apartment is owned by a corporation instead of an individual or partnership then the profit issue is what is in play. A corporation exists to return a maximum profit to the investors. No personal compassion for the folk who cannot afford the going rate matters! A family member of mine had to move out of a....run down efficiency in the 78704 zip because the partnership-owners decided to hire a corporate type leasing company for the 10 unit building and the going rate went through the roof.

As our population continues to explode the pressure on housing costs will increase. Most new apartments will be corporate built/owned and cost a lot to rent. Existing apartments will change ownership to corporations to be renovated or torn down to build more profitable units for the owner. Riverside Drive!!!! South Lamar!!!! And the other older stock everywhere is then worth more per/sq./ft. because more and more folk are moving here. We are at 97.8% occupied apartment rates right now.

This cycle will eventually push the reasonable affordable units to the fringes where everyone will need a car to commute. The very folk who need to be located near mass transit will eventually be forced out of the mass transit available areas. Community and social issues are very important long term for stability in any city...here in Texas, however the rights of the property owner is what matters most. Affordable housing in Austin...get a car or a third job to afford a more central location.

And I need to move my elderly mom to the area. Well we can not afford anything central now. I hear ya JoninATX...I hear ya!