A report from the Wall Street Journal. "The federal agency that insures mortgages for first-time home buyers is tightening its standards, concerned it is allowing too many risky loans to be extended. The Federal Housing Administration told lenders this month it would begin flagging more loans as high risk. Those mortgages, many of which are extended to borrowers with low credit scores and high loan payments relative to their incomes, will now go through a more rigorous manual underwriting process, the FHA said."

"Roughly 40,000 to 50,000 loans a year likely would be affected, or about 4% to 5% of the FHA-insured mortgages originated annually in recent years, according to Keith Becker, the agency’s chief risk officer. 'We have continued to endorse loans with more and more credit risk,' Mr. Becker said. 'We felt that it was appropriate to take some steps to mitigate the risks we’re seeing.'"

"The move is an about-face from a 2016 decision to loosen underwriting standards. At the time, the FHA removed an earlier rule that required manual underwriting for mortgages with credit scores below 620 and a ratio of debt to income above 43%. 'Since that happened, we have observed a steady increase in the endorsement of higher-risk loans,' Mr. Becker said."

"The government agency’s $1.3 trillion insurance portfolio is now filled ith a large share of loans made by nonbank mortgage lenders. The biggest FHA lenders last year were Quicken Loans Inc., loanDepot Inc., and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., according to Inside Mortgage Finance."

The Orange County Register in California. "One big challenge of aggressive construction to fix the region’s housing affordability headache is developers’ fear of overbuilding. Building permits for 56,523 units — single-family and multi-unit projects — were filed in the region last year. Yes, last year’s planning looks good when comparing it with the 2013-2017 average. Permits were up 4,567 units, a 9 percent boost, in 2018 vs. the previous five years. But last year was down 1,750 units (3 percent) vs. 2017 and was the second decline in three years."

"Look at 2018: Southern California’s real estate market stalled and builders in the seven-county region cut permitting by the largest amount since the Great Recession ended. 2018’s slightly cooling job market helped create a large local supply of unsold newly built homes. And as summer began, homeowners were rushing to list their existing homes for sale. More competition for sellers, at a minimum, diminished builders’ immediate need to create more single-family homes."

From ENR California. "The three-tower Oceanwide Plaza project in Los Angeles suffered from a series of serious design issues and delays in the two years leading up to January, when work stopped, according to a lawsuit by a major subcontractor."

"In addition to tens of millions of dollars in back payments, Webcor's lawsuit also seeks to foreclose on a mechanics lien on three-tower hotel, condominium and restaurant project being built in downtown LA by Oceanwide. If successful, the foreclosure on the mechanics lien could force the sale of the property."

From The Real Deal on New York. "The forecast for Manhattan’s luxury residential market continues to be bleak, as year-to-date sales declined for the third consecutive first quarter. There were 27 contracts above $4 million signed last week – valued at $199.5 million – according to the latest luxury market report from Olshan Realty."

"'In my opinion, the luxury market continued to scream: OVER PRICED!!!!!' wrote Donna Olshan, the realty firm’s president."

The Winona Post in Minnesota. "As they draw up a new grand plan for downtown, Winona city staff and consultants sat down with Winonans last week to pick their brains. 'I think a lot of college students think downtown and they think bars, but for the other students … it’s a real letdown,' Elizabeth Meinders said, explaining she felt there is not enough to do downtown other than drink. Responding to a question about what kind of housing Winonans want to see downtown, Meinders pointed out that many recent development projects focus on upscale apartments."

"'“They’re always luxury apartments and market-rate apartments, and I don’t know who that is that’s buying a luxury apartment in Winona,' she said. 'Even as a professional, I can’t spend that kind of money on an apartment.'"

The Florida Alligator. "Of the nearly 56,000 students at UF, 80 percent live in off-campus housing, said Nora Kilroy, the director of UF Off-Campus Life. Six new luxury apartment complexes, similar to The Standard, will be built by 2020, meaning the majority of UF students will have to decide between better a location or a lower cost."

"'There are a lot of students who can’t afford these new apartment complexes,' said City of Gainesville Commissioner At-large Helen Warren. 'As more of these off-campus high-quality, luxury apartments are built, it’s going to have an impact on apartment complexes that are 10, 20, 30 years old.'"

"Patrick Murray tries to forget the day when he frantically ran through his apartment at West 20, grabbing his belongings off the floor as water spewed out of his toilet. When it took management an hour to respond to the flooding, he couldn’t stay another year."

"'If I tell you ‘Hey, water’s flying out of the toilet, please come quick,’ and it takes you almost an hour to come, that’s unacceptable,' Murray said."

From Nicki Swift. "Bravo's Real Housewives franchise nets big ratings as well as big bucks for its stars, but that doesn't mean the Real Housewives themselves are good at managing their money. Though some stars from the franchise pull in more than $1 million per season, a lot of them find themselves in dire straits. Several of the housewives have filed for bankruptcy, while others have been taken to court (and in the case of Teresa Giudice, hauled off to prison) over their money matters."

"Former RHOC star Peggy Tanous filed for bankruptcy in 2013. In documents obtained by Radar Online, Tanous claimed that her only income at the time was listed as $2,500 in child support from her ex-husband, Micah, whom she'd never publicly acknowledged divorcing. Tanous' home was foreclosed after she missed a whopping 75 mortgage payments."

"Radar Online reported in February 2015 that Tanous owed $1.5 million on her Irvine, Calif. property, which was allegedly only worth $840,000. She also reportedly owed $300,000 on a second mortgage from a different bank for the home. She was three days from a foreclosure sale when she filed for bankruptcy in 2013, the site claimed, and, in 2015, her mortgage lender asked a judge to lift her bankruptcy protection because she didn't have equity in the property."

"The Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel was already a mogul when she became a TV star. She hinted that all that glittered within the Bravolebrity realm wasn't gold in an August 2018 interview, telling Money magazine of her less-savvy peers, 'They can't afford the lives they're living. And if the music stops, they're going to get in some trouble.' For some of the housewives, the music stopped long ago, but they're still dancing their way deeper into debt."