Smart Austin Realty Group

Four of the 24 rezonings filed with the City of Austin since June 1 ask for the new density bonus. One is a 7-acre site at Tillery Street, Govalle Avenue and Linden Street in 78702, filed September 16.

It asks for the lowest tier, DBCBase, which adds no height to the commercial zoning the land already has. What it changes is the rulebook: no floor-area or density cap, no story limit, and in exchange at least 10 percent of the homes must be income-restricted (households at or below 50 percent of median family income for rentals, 80 percent for homes for sale).

If you own next to a site like this, the ordinance sets a floor. Next to a one-to-three unit home zoned SF-5 or stricter: no more than 60 feet tall within 50 feet of the property, a buffer at least 25 feet wide, equipment noise capped at 70 decibels at the shared line, and the trash slab at least 15 feet away. A rezoning can modify those for a specific site, so read the case itself: C14-2026-0067. It is in review, and our copy of the city's records shows no hearing date yet.

The filing, the ordinance and the zoning map around it, with sources: https://austin.localteam.house/news/austin-density-bonus-tillery-rezoning

Have you ever gotten a city rezoning notice in the mail for a lot near yours?

Austin Local Team · Brokered by All City Real Estate

Each week, the City of Austin's permit list adds a few thousand lines. Most are not for new houses. About 150 a week are.

From Aug. 3 through Sept. 27 the city issued 1,205 permits for new single-family houses. The weekly count stayed between 134 and 176. Three ZIP codes, 78744, 78747 and 78754, account for 490 of them, 41 percent. In our copy of the records, 218 of the 224 in 78744 sit in the city's limited-purpose jurisdiction.

Year to date through Sept. 27: 6,479 new-house permits, against 5,950 at the same point in 2025 and 5,012 in 2024. Two-family permits went the other way, 468 now against 984 last year.

A permit is not a sale, a price or a finished house. It is the earliest public record that one has been cleared to start. The weekly table, the ZIP list and what each number can and cannot tell you: https://austin.localteam.house/news/austin-new-house-permits-eight-weeks

Seen a lot staked out near you lately? Tell us which stretch.

Austin Local Team · Brokered by All City Real Estate

A two-bedroom's HUD fair market rent for the Austin area is now $1,817. It was reset on October 1 from $1,852 a year ago, and it peaked at $1,949 in 2025.

The figure covers the Austin-Round Rock metro (Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties) and counts gross rent, utilities included. It is a federal standard used in voucher programs, not what any building will charge. Studios through four-bedrooms all came down, and the three- and four-bedroom cuts were the largest.

For scale, Zumper's August median asking rent for an Austin two-bedroom was $1,610, as reported by CultureMap Austin. Different measure, different number. What is worth checking on a tour is the fee list: a tenant group told Fox 7 Austin last year that pest control, valet trash and amenity charges are often billed apart from the rent.

Tables and sources: https://austin.localteam.house/news/austin-hud-fair-market-rents-fy2027

Renters, what fee did you not see coming until the first bill?

Austin Local Team · Brokered by All City Real Estate

Picture an inspector walking into an Austin kitchen at 2 p.m. with a clipboard and a thermometer. She will do that three to five times today. Over the last year, Austin Public Health did it 6,777 times, and we read every record.

Here is what the city's own data shows for September 10, 2025 through September 10, 2026: 4,521 inspections scored 90 or higher, 2,221 scored 70 to 89, and 35 scored under 70, which is a fail. That is about one in every 194.

A first failure costs the establishment a $134 fee and a reinspection within 10 days. A second within three years brings a criminal complaint. A third closes the doors until the owner meets with a program manager, according to KUT's reporting.

One caution: a score is one inspector on one day. We left business names out on purpose. The city's inspection portal has the individual reports, and the last few say more than the latest one.

The full piece, with the numbers and sources: https://austin.localteam.house/news/austin-restaurant-inspection-scores-2026

What is the first thing you check before trying a new restaurant in a new part of town?

Austin Local Team · Brokered by All City Real Estate

Austin's city property tax rate is now 57.99 cents per $100 of taxable value, up from 52.40 cents. The City Council adopted it August 12 on an 8-2 vote. Today is the first day Travis County can start mailing the bills that rate feeds into.

Here is the part that catches people at closing. Texas bills property tax after the year it covers, so a home that closes in mid-November gets its 2026 bill afterward, due January 31. The Travis County Tax Office says that in many cases the new owner gets a credit from the seller and pays the whole bill.

Our arithmetic on an example: a $9,000 bill and a November 15 closing puts roughly $7,841 on the seller (318 of 365 days) and $1,159 on the buyer. Your title company's settlement statement has the real numbers.

Dates to keep: January 31 is the last day without penalty, February 1 the bill is delinquent, and May 15 is the protest deadline at the appraisal district.

The full piece, with sources and the math: https://austin.localteam.house/news/austin-2026-property-tax-bill-closing

If you have closed on an Austin home, how close was the title company's tax estimate to the real bill?

Austin Local Team · Brokered by All City Real Estate