A report from The Stranger. "On March 8, Seattle Times's astute real estate reporter Mike Rosenberg wrote that the waterfront area has become the next 'gold rush.' Big-money investors are moving in and expecting a terrific boom in property values. This development would be a dub (echoes) of what's happening right now in the area around New York City's High Line, a Manhattan project that was inspired by public spirit (Friends of the High Line), but upon its completion of its first phase in 2009, was almost immediately captured by a market that has as its logic the rapid and otherworldly inflation of asset values."

"This week is the week for Seattle to think about the Waterfront project—which has already buried billions of dollars—because the first phase of a massive development located at the north end of the High Line, the Hudson Yards, just opened and has stunned the public and critics not with its unrestrained expression of corporate power, but its obvious obscenity."

"Here we have, without a doubt, a form of city planning that must be described as billionaire urbanism. It's the terminal point of neoliberal urbanism. It's soon coming to Seattle's waterfront."

"Alan G Brake writes in Dezeen Magazine: 'Hudson Yards is not for us, because it is a billionaire's fantasy of the future of city life. Architecture is slow, and Hudson Yards was conceived by the administration of Michael Bloomberg and built by Stephen Ross, the chairman and majority owner of Related Companies.'"

"'The two men believed, and apparently still believe, that catering to an ultra-luxury consumer magically benefits everyone. Bloomberg famously said in 2013: 'If we could get every billionaire around the world to move here, it would be a godsend.'"

"'But the tides have turned. New York is facing a crisis of confidence, its leaders having neglected its infrastructure and its public realm for so long that its basic systems (the subway, the streetscape, subsidised housing) are breaking down. Income inequality has reached levels not seen since the 1920s.'"

From Fox and Hounds in California. "In Lethal Weapon 2, whenever he is confronted with potential arrest for some villainous deed or other, South African diplomat Arjen Rudd, masterfully portrayed by Joss Ackland, whips out his credentials and shouts “Diplomatic Immunity!”

"Rudd’s supposedly unanswerable response brings to mind the refrain of corporatist Democrats, their right-wing Koch Bro Bros and the YIMBY ZOMBYs (Zoning Opportunists in My Back Yard) that follow them, when confronted with criticism of their favored 'solution' to housing unaffordability in California. Rather than 'Diplomatic immunity!' their watchcry whenever confronted with the irrationality of their density fetishism is: 'Law of supply-and-demand!'"

"Anyone who disputes their notion that 'build, build, build' or more density will increase housing affordability significantly is tarred as a “supply-and-demand denialist” ,  and curtly dismissed as being in the same pigeonhole as climate change deniers. Anyone who suggests that 'abundant housing' is hardly the same thing as 'affordable housing' is akin to a charter member of the flat earth society."

The San Francisco Examiner in California. "Housing production in San Francisco slowed across the board in 2018, with production levels dropping by nearly 41 percent from the previous year for market-rate and by 56 percent for affordable housing."

"The San Francisco Examiner has previously reported that close to 45,000 potential new homes are currently approved in San Francisco — the highest number tracked by The City’s Planning Department to date — though many of these projects have yet to break ground."

"While the City’s slow approvals process has been blamed for the backed up housing pipeline, rising construction costs and a growing trend of flipping entitlements have also been cited as sources for delays in actual housing production. 'People aren’t taking risks right now,' said Jonathan Moftakhar, a realtor with Vanguard Properties, blaming in part 'unpredictability in city policy that ultimately leads to the swings in production."

The Arizona Republic. "Luxury apartments make up about 87 percent of all the new rental complexes built in the Valley during the past few years. Older complexes with lower rents in central Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe have been torn down to make way for the pricier options."

"Developers rushed to build new complexes in central Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe. Most of those were luxury apartments because they are typically the most profitable and easiest to get financing to build. Courtney LeVinus, CEO of the Arizona Multifamily Association, points to he lopsided luxury inventory as the most noticeable 'supply/demand imbalance' in Arizona."

"Hair and makeup stylist Christina Lopez has been looking for an apartment near her salon. 'When I trained in New York, I shared an apartment with three other people and we paid only $500 each,' Lopez said. 'A lot of us don’t understand what’s going on with rents in Phoenix. Are there really that many people who can afford to live in all the new complexes?'"

From CultureMap on Texas. "Apartment Guide compared two-bedroom apartment rent prices in the 100 largest U.S. cities to determine where rents are rising and falling the fastest. Houston appears on the latter list at No. 3, with rents falling 8.4 percent to an average of $1,548 in 2018. Houston isn't the only Texas city to see a dramatic price drop. Fort Worth lands at No. 8 on the list, with rents falling 5.6 percent to an average of $1,376 last year."

From 6sqft on New York. "Developer Related Companies’ high-profile condominium at 520 West 28th Street launched sales in 2015 to a flurry of hype and hubris. The highly-anticipated West Side residence was Zaha Hadid’s first ground-up structure in New York City, offering homes that ranged from $4,950,000 to a $50 million penthouse."

"Crains reports that since that glittering launch, though, only 16 of the building’s 39 units have sold, calling the offering 'a rare bust.' The sales figures reflect about a 40 percent sell-through that looks even lower when square footage is considered: The building’s biggest units remain unclaimed, including its three penthouses. Of the 16 apartments that have sold, 14 were bought in 2017. Only two units sold in 2018, and none so far this year."

"Some say luxury buyers are looking for smaller units with lower price tags. Douglas Elliman broker Frances Katzen thinks it’s the timing that’s causing the condo’s units, with an average sale price of $8.3 million, to move slowly. 'The building came to market just as buyers were starting to pull back.'"