Help from Habitat
Austin Habitat for Humanity raises income limit for affordable homes

The Villanueva family has benefited from the policy change.
Austin Habitat for Humanity is expanding who qualifies for its affordable homeownership program, allowing more middle-income families to buy homes as housing prices in the city remain out of reach for many.
According to Zillow, the average home in Austin now costs more than $528,000 — a price tag that makes homeownership inaccessible for much of the city’s workforce.
Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit dedicated to helping low- and moderate-income families achieve homeownership, recently raised its maximum income limits for applicants to match new local Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data.
The new limits reflect the reality that even traditional wage earners are being priced out of the Austin housing market.
The updated income limits are:
- 1-person household: $72,950 (up from $68,500)
- 2-person household: $83,400 (up from $78,250)
- 3-person household: $93,800 (up from $88,050)
- 4-person household: $104,200, crossing the six-figure mark for the first time (up from $97,800)
"Before, it really felt like a super low-income thing," said Wayne Gerami, the chief operating officer of Austin Habitat. "Now, it’s really more of a starter home situation. And that’s the reality of trying to buy a home in Austin."
Beyond salary, there are other qualifications that need to be met, depending on the program
Teachers, police now among those eligible
The expanded criteria means that more traditional wage earners — including teachers, police officers and health care workers — are eligible to apply for Habitat homes.
“We’re selling homes for anywhere from around $150,000 for some of our condos, up to around $240,000 for some of our single-family homes," Gerami said. "Those same homes would be selling for over $400,000, maybe $450,000, in the market.
A family’s journey home
For Jordan Villanueva and his family, the limit changes have been life-changing.
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Read the full story at KVUE.com.