This is a really simplistic view. It’s not just policy. In Texas, the vast majority of land is privately owned (only 2% is public land), so zoning is the only thing preventing buildout. Most of the geography is flat, there are huge expanses of empty fields all around Austin, and the weather is buildable nearly year round. There is also a tremendous amount of cheap labor due to the proximity to Mexico and the lack of minimum wages / border policy enforcement / etc. there are so many factors that make Texas cheap to build in that aren’t true universally in America.

Another key point, look up net migration in Austin. During the pandemic and remote work, everyone and their brother wanted to move to Austin, it was super trendy and a lot of tech was moving there. Look it up now. In Q4 2023 not only did grow to slow but it reversed to net outflow. Thats a massive difference in demand for housing and a massive difference in supply of housing. [1]

Yes, more homes got built, but there were many other factors at play than something simple like “let them build houses”.

1. https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-migration-trends-q3-2023...