More than half of Houston renters struggle with housing costs, report finds

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A new report showed Houston's housing challenge is no longer just about building enough homes, but it's about who can actually afford to live in them.

The Kinder Institute's 2026 State of Housing Report found that affordable housing for both renters and homeowners is slipping further out of reach for many families.

The report said that over the past five years, rent prices have risen sharply, but renters' incomes can't keep up.

As a result, the report found that more than half of renters are now considered cost-burdened, spending over 30% of their income on housing.

52.6% of renters were considered cost-burdened in Houston and 51.2% across Harris County, according to the report.

At the same time, eviction filings remain high across the area. In 2024, researchers found roughly one filing for every ten households countywide.

The path to homeownership is also growing steeper.

The cost of homeowner's insurance is a contributing factor. It rose by more than 10% in a single year, faster than home values themselves, according to the report.

Researchers linked the spike to extreme weather risks, higher construction and repair costs, and more frequent claims.

But one of the most important findings researchers highlighted was a steep drop in Black homeownership in Houston. It showed the largest losses specifically concentrated in neighborhoods east of Interstate 69 and Texas 288.

It was a 16% drop from 2023 to 2024, according to the report.

Housing experts said several factors could be contributing to that shift, like homeowners transitioning back to renting or relocating.

Courtney Johnson Rose, Principal Broker at George E. Johnson Properties, also pointed to other factors.

"Due to the lack of generational wealth in the Black community, there are no parents or grandparents that can help with a down payment, or help you avoid student loan debt," Rose said.

Rose also said there are investors competing for the same homes that many Black first-time homebuyers are trying to purchase.

"When you look at where that focus of institutional investors is and where they like to buy, we are finding that that is detrimental to black homeownership in this core city because an average Black homeowner cannot compete with the institutional investor," Rose said.

The declining trend was not consistent across all of Harris County. The report said Black homeownership did increase by more than 3,500 households outside city limits.