A report from the Post and Courier in South Carolina. "A slew of new apartments opening in the Charleston market this year will lead to a rise in the vacancy rate, the highest in the state. About 4,100 new units are expected in the Charleston area this year. Columbia will see 500 new apartments, and the Upstate hub will pick up about 700 new units."

"Marcus & Millichap projects Charleston’s apartment vacancy rate will rise to 7 percent this year, higher than Columbia’s projected 6.3 percent rate and Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson’s 5.1 percent expected vacancy level."

From The Real Deal on Florida. "Coral Gables developer Alirio Torrealba closed on a condo inventory loan for unsold units at Biltmore Parc. Torrealba’s MG Developer secured a $7.75 million loan from BGI Capital, according to a press release. Developers typically take out condo inventory loans to pay off construction lenders, pull out equity and/or cover carrying costs of the units they have not yet sold. The developers of One Thousand Museum are seeking a $331 million condo inventory loan as the luxury Zaha Hadid-designed high-rise in downtown Miami nears completion."

"BGI Capital provides traditional, specialty and bridge financing for residential and commercial real estate, according to the release. The Miami-based firm recently opened an office in New York to cater to Northeastern clients. In all, One Sotheby’s took over sales of 34 units, including townhouses at Beatrice Row, Althea Row, Biltmore Row, Villa Blanca and 3400 Ponce. Prices for the remaining developer inventory range from about $2 million to $3.2 million."

The Union Tribune in California. "A historically low number of homes were built in San Diego County in the first three months of 2019. There were 1,180 residential permits pulled in the first quarter, a drop of 58 percent compared to the same time last year, said the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California. It was the most significant drop of the seven Southern California counties."

"The drop was largely the result of a reduction in the seemingly unstoppable apartment market. There were 556 multifamily permits pulled in the first quarter, a drop of 70 percent from 2018. While the apartment and condo market fluctuates heavily, because one approved project can mean hundreds of units, it was still notable because the apartment building pace had also slowed significantly at the end of last year."

"Analysts pointed to a slowdown in rent growth as the main reason for the reduction. Without a steady increase of 4 to 6 percent like the last few years, it’s getting harder for developers to make a strong return on investment with rising costs of construction, said Nathan Moeder, principal with real estate analysts London Moeder Advisors."

"'Projects are having a hard time achieving feasibility so it means a lack of new projects in the pipeline,' he said. 'Developers used to be able to count on long-term inflation of rents. But, we’ve pretty much hit a ceiling.'"

The Bay Area Newsgroup in California. "Want a free month’s rent included in your new lease, or maybe free streaming of your favorite TV shows? Move-in perks like these are becoming a little more common in the San Jose area — a trend that could be a good sign for renters."

"The number of rental listings offering some kind of move-in special in the San Jose area has more than doubled since this time last year, according to Zillow. Landlords often use those specials as a way to lure in renters during a slow market, offering small concessions before resorting to lowering prices, said HotPads economist Joshua Clark."

"'It could mean that San Jose is going to start to slow down again,' he said."

From Bisnow on New York. "Legislators called it historic, tenant advocates hailed it as a step toward ending the housing crisis and the governor promised to sign it. But many in real estate had a gloomy outlook Wednesday about the rent regulation reform now set to become law. Tuesday evening, Albany lawmakers announced they had reached an agreement over a package of bills the Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie described as 'historic affordable housing legislation' that will 'finally restore equity' between landlords and tenants. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he would sign the bill, describing it as 'the best tenant protections' lawmakers would sign."

"The laws affect the way the 1 million rent-regulated apartments are run in the city. While tenant advocates cheered the changes as a win for housing affordability, they were met with dismay by many in the real estate industry. Real estate sources told Bisnow they see the changes will worsen, not improve, conditions for tenants. And for many it will mean major changes to how they operate their business."

"'It’s very troubling. I made investments in good faith and I am being penalized for making those investments,' Taconic Investment Partners co-CEO Charles Bendit said. 'I thought the legislature and government would come to a more balanced solution.'"

"Taconic, which is partnering on a major, mixed-income development called Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side, has a fund that was targeting workforce housing investments in the city, which he said he and his investors will need to re-evaluate in light of these new laws. 'There are some owners that are going to be screwed,' Camber Property Group principal Rick Gropper said. '[Those] who bought at the height of the market — a year or a year-and-a-half ago — and are relying on a business plan of deregulating units quickly and aggressively are going to be hurt the most.'"

"Nelson Management Group President Robert Nelson said he spoke to legislators in the lead-up to the June 15 deadline, though he declined to name names. He said many of them sympathized with the real estate industry’s position, but had been 'drowned out' by a progressive Democratic agenda that wanted to 'stick it to landlords.'"

"'It costs me anywhere between $25K to $60K to renovate an apartment,' he said of the MCI and IAI caps. '[These laws are] irresponsible … I’m sure banks are going to get hit hard. Loans are going to fall into default. I think that it’s going to be devastating.'"