A report from Michigan Live. "When Carl Calfin bought Geddes Hill Apartments in 1989, rent for a four-person unit was $895. Today, that unit goes for $2,600. Luxury high-rises have dramatically changed Ann Arbor’s student housing market in recent years, he said. He thinks that segment of the market could become oversaturated, because not every student can afford or is seeking that type of housing."

"'They brought a level of pricing that’s unheard of,' Calfin said. 'It really added expense to the student body. If they don’t know different, they pay it.'"

The Star Democrat in Maryland. "Washington College is wading into the real estate business, temporarily, as it tries to sell half a dozen properties officials say no longer are tied directly to the college’s strategic plan or value proposition."

"'Don’t panic. We are not liquidating,' Laura Johnson, the college’s vice president of finance told the Chestertown council. 'Over the past decade, the demand for housing among faculty and staff has declined to the point where we simply don’t have enough renters who are interested in these residential properties to continue to hold them for that purpose.'"

From The Ledger in Florida. "Lake Mirror Tower, a historic residential high-rise that Broadway purchased as NoBay was being developed, had a history of success with around 75 units, but new construction was seen as more of a gamble. This time, Broadway’s project would be adding to a market with many times the number of downtown residential units, based on the number of ongoing and planned residential projects in downtown."

"Broadway President Matt Clark, like others in real estate development, are not sure how long the current real estate surge will continue. 'We can’t go on indefinitely,' he said. Banks are getting squirrelly about lending for apartment complexes since a project started today wouldn’t go online until 2021, most likely. 'What’s that market like?' Clark asked. 'If they don’t take quick action, they will miss it. ... There’s a lot that can happen between now and 2021.'"

From Curbed on Texas. "The growing number of luxury rentals in Austin exemplifies a trend in cities across the nation: the bifurcating housing market. Joshua Roberson, senior data analyst at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University says there’s already been a sales slowdown across Texas markets this year. Igor Popov, chief economist at Apartment List agrees, noting that some economists have adopted a pessimistic 'winter is coming' perspective around the fate of all this new construction."

"'During a recession, you can’t unbuild,' he says. 'Will that create a glut on the supply side?'"

The Colorado Springs Independent. "Nancy Burke, vice president of government and community affairs for the Apartment Association of Colorado, says via email that rents are beginning to stabilize because of more supply hitting the market."

"'Rents for the past two quarters in Colorado and in Denver have decreased,' she says. 'The construction of 12,324 new apartments in 2018 — a volume nearly three times greater than Denver's long-run average construction levels — has been a key factor in the easing of the rental market there. ue to a surplus of available apartments, average rents declined for the second quarter in a row [in Denver].'"

"Colorado Springs started March with the nation's biggest decline in year-over-year median one-bedroom unit rent prices, falling 5.3 percent to $900, according to Zumper."

From Seattle PI in Washington. "Seattle’s condominium market hit a bump in the road in February; median sales prices decreased as inventory rose further and sales activity flattened. The citywide condo median sales price dropped 17.01% compared to last February to $444,000, which also reflected a one-month dip of 5.5%. While we have seen other year-over-year declines, this is the first double-digit drop in the median sales price since the market bottomed in spring 2012."

From The Guardian on Louisiana. "In recent years, short-term rentals with companies such as Airbnb proliferated and now operate on about 45% of the Historic Faubourg Treme District’s parcels. Now Treme moves in an unnatural rhythm. For about half of each week, the number of tourists drops and many blocks are 'like a ghost town,' said Darryl Durham, who has lived there since 2006. Each Thursday, the tourists return, filling hundreds of units. Suddenly, Treme is alive with groups of drunk, mostly white college-aged kids, Durham said."

"Treme isn’t an isolated case. Short-term rentals are so concentrated in Bywater, Marigny and other neighborhoods around the French Quarter that some residents and longtime homeowners are finding investors have effectively converted their blocks into hotels. The number of Airbnbs citywide spiked from 1,905 to 6,508 between 2015 and December 2018, according to the watchdog website Inside Airbnb. Of that figure, 85% are owned by investors, some of whom live as far away as San Francisco or New York City."

"In January, the New Orleans city council unanimously approved a package of regulations that would make it illegal to convert 'whole home' investment properties into short-term rentals in residential zones. If the rules are ultimately approved, thousands of homes could be forced back to the local housing market, and Airbnb would take a financial hit."

From Bloomberg on California. "Airbnb Inc. and Expedia Group Inc.’s HomeAway failed to persuade a U.S. court of appeals to strike down a Santa Monica law that makes the companies liable for illicit rentals in the Southern California beach city."

"San Francisco-based Airbnb is gearing up to be ready to go public by the end of the year, but is still fighting various cities in court over efforts to curtail its operation. In January, Airbnb and other home-sharing sites won a ruling granting a temporary reprieve from a New York City law that would compel them to turn over renter data, a requirement that threatens to cut their bookings in the city by half."

"Airbnb is also fighting Paris where it faces as much as 12.5 million-euro ($14 million) in fines for allegedly posting illegal advertisements, and in November it sued Boston over a new ordinance that it says would limit short-term home rentals and impose unfair restrictions and financial penalties on the company."

"Airbnb and HomeAway argued that the Santa Monica ordinance makes it impossible for them to operate, particularly if other municipalities adopt similar laws, because it would require them to monitor and remove listings for unregistered residences. If they don’t, users would be stuck looking at listings that they won’t be able to book, according to the companies."