While home prices are reportedly on the rise in Austin, affordable housing projects, geared toward low-income earners and the elderly, are drying up. 

Affordable housing in Austin continues to get further out of reach for many as the median home price is now up to $210,000 and expected to rise. Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole says council was counting on $78 million in bond money that voters turned down last November. An affordable housing project getting underway this week on East 12th Street, that will provide 24 new units for low-income Austinites, but it could be one of the last for some time. Council member Mike Martinez says they are trying to figure out how to fund future projects after voters turned down that bond money. 

The City Manager is expected to bring preliminary plans back to council in February to hold another election, asking voters once again for affordable housing money. It would be used for things like rental assistance, home repairs and permanent housing for the homeless.