A report from the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. "Construction began on nearly 3,000 homes in the Tampa Bay area in the third quarter of this year but the new-home market shows definite signs of a slowdown. Moreover, 'truly affordable housing (is becoming) an impossibility in this market,' a new report warns."

"According to Metrostudy, which tracks housing starts in the bay area, 2,946 single-family homes came out of the ground in the three months ended in September, 5.1 percent more than in the third quarter of 2017. However, the increase was largely due to a near halt in construction following Hurricane Irma a year ago September."

"'A case can be made that the market was slower in the third quarter 2018 than (in the) third quarter 2017,' said Tony Polito, regional director of Metrostudy’s Tampa market."

"Despite an overall gain this July, August and September, construction starts of homes over $450,000 plunged 6.8 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. 'A telltale sign of a slowing market is contraction starting in the upper end,' Polito said."

From MiBiz in Michigan. "With several large-scale projects currently under construction around the region, many wonder what comes next for the area. Given the pressures from rising interest rates, increased construction costs and a higher regulatory burden, many insiders expect a slowdown for the industry at some point in the foreseeable future. That’s according to a panel of executives convened by MiBiz for a roundtable discussion on the commercial real estate industry."

"Ryan Schmidt, vice president of real estate development and management for Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF), a Grand Rapids nonprofit real estate developer: I think Bond is also an indicator of where multifamily development has been going on the market-rate side in terms of the size of the development. If we look back at like 2012 to ’17, there were a lot of deals that were smaller than 50 units. Now, a lot of the new product that’s coming into the market is Bond at 202 units, 234 Market has 235 units. The Brix at Midtown has 200 and some units. The Hendrik on the West Side has 116 units. Three of the four grouped there are out of market money. These are very large developments."

"Why do you think we’re now attracting these larger projects?"

"Chris Beckering, executive vice president of Pioneer Construction, a Grand Rapids-based general contractor: To some extent, that’s been a self-fulfilling prophecy because there’s this magic number of 100 units for financing. You’re getting into a whole other tier of financing options when you’re over 100 units … so developers like to build them because they can finance them. When they’re done and stabilized, there’s a huge market for selling them."

The Arizona Daily Star. "An eye-popping sale of a Tucson student housing complex for nearly $112 million is indicative of how hot that market is and why investor interest is so high in these projects, industry experts say. New York-based Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. paid $536,780 per unit to acquire The District on 5th, a 208-unit complex at 550 N. Fifth Ave."

"The purchase was part of a $1.2 billion buy that Blackstone made of EdR Student Housing Portfolio in a joint venture with Greystar Real Estate Partners. The total purchase was for 10,500 beds in 20 student-housing projects across the country."

"'When EdR purchased it, we all sat back and said, ‘Wow. That’s a whole bunch of money,' said Mike Chapman, multifamily specialist with NAI Horizon, who closely monitors student housing. 'It appears, from these high prices, they haven’t overbuilt yet.'"

"'The price may seem exorbitant, but there’s not enough in that pipeline,' said Thomas Brophy, director of research for ABI Multifamily. 'All of the big investment players are circling Tucson because we have both jobs and population rising.'"