A report from CNBC. "Last year, about 43,000 single-family homes were built for rent, the largest number in nearly 40 years according to National Association of Home Builders analysis of U.S. Census data. The built-for-rent share of housing starts is also rising, nearly double its recent historical average. 'Our business is booming right now with build-to-rent feasibility work,' said John Burns, CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting. 'We are discussing new projects with clients almost daily. The market has become so hot that we are already having conversations about when we will conclude the market is overbuilt.'"

The Hartford Courant in Connecticut. "A New York lender, who helped finance the troubled rental conversion of the top floors of downtown Hartford’s Red Lion Hotel, has taken control of the building and the project, after the original developer defaulted on its loan. DW Partners of New York has told the Capital Region Development Authority it intends to complete the long-stalled conversion of guest rooms on top nine floors into 96 apartments. CRDA has approved state taxpayer-backed loans of up to $7 million for the project."

"At the same time, however, another entity managed by DW Partners, DW Commercial Finance, has filed a notice with the city that it intends to foreclose on the property. It wasn’t clear Tuesday how such a foreclosure would unfold. Inner Circle’s troubles apparently are not limited to just the Red Lion project in Hartford. An offering notice advertising a Sept. 12 foreclosure sale lists eight Inner Circle hotels, including the Red Lion in Cromwell."

The Post and Courier in South Carolina. "Despite a dire shortage of affordable housing in Charleston, several three-bedroom apartments owned by the city Housing Authority are sitting vacant, and some of them have been that way for months. In just one small apartment building, on the corner of Columbus and Nassau streets, there are three empty three-bedroom apartments that rent for $927 monthly. On the Charleston peninsula, that’s a bargain, considering that new luxury apartments for college students, just four blocks away, rent for $999 per bedroom."

"Two of the vacant apartments at 93 Columbus St. have been unoccupied for more than six months. The building at 93 Columbus St. was among two dozen small apartment houses the authority agreed to buy at the end of 2009, taking advantage of Great Recession distressed-sale prices. The authority bought 24 buildings containing 35 apartments at a cost of $1,213,560."

The Business Record in Iowa. "Eight of 12 Des Moines-area cities issued fewer residential building permits in the first six months of 2019 compared with the same period a year ago, a Business Record review of building permit data shows. Overall, the number of residential building permits issued during the January-June period between 2018 and 2019 dropped 22%, the review shows."

"Des Moines, for example, issued four building permits in the first half of 2018 for apartment buildings with a total of 247 units, city data shows. The total value of the permits was $34.1 million. So far in 2019, two permits have been issued for multifamily projects that are valued at $13.8 million. West Des Moines has also seen a drop in apartment construction. 'There may be a little softening of that market, but I wouldn’t say it’s overbuilt,' said Dan Knoup, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Greater Des Moines."

From Crain's New York. "It’s been only 38 days since Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed sweeping pro-tenant changes in the city’s rent-regulation laws, and the fallout has already begun. Construction workers are losing their jobs, lenders are nervous and landlords are figuring out how to lower the property taxes they pay."

"Meanwhile, banks are trying to calculate whether or on what terms they should be lending to the city’s multi-family buildings. A major conference call of lenders several weeks ago revealed lots of handwringing, sources say. One obvious sign is a Bloomberg story last week that said the sale of rent-regulated buildings in the city had come to a crashing half in the wake of the new laws."

"But over the long term, values won’t increase as much as they would have and some buildings will see their net operating income fall. The Real Estate Board of New York calculated that in five years, assessments will have to be adjusted downward enough to cost the city $1 billion in annual property taxes. The new rent laws have been portrayed as a great victory for tenants over landlords. Now it’s important to track the collateral damage."

From The East Oregonian. "As an apartment owner in Pendleton I’m not worried about the rent control bill 608 that came out of Salem. The law is predictable, out in the open and applied the same to everyone around the state without exception."

"A much bigger uncertainty for investors and developers in Pendleton has been created right here at home, by city hall. City officials are meddling with the free market, giving taxpayer dollars away in the form of free land, reducing permit fees, cash to downtown units, road infrastructure to Pendleton Heights, interest-free loans and property tax breaks. These have not been given out evenly and equitably, but selectively by picking winners and losers."

"The city has spurred the next 20 years worth of apartments that will be coming in the next two to three years. This oversupply of new units crushes the value of existing apartments and will ultimately drive down rents for decades as the new units are absorbed. City council is flooding the city with market rate apartments, despite the recommendations of the August 2016 Sabino housing study."

"City officials have chosen to incentivize building only on taxpayer-owned land or downtown. This strategy punishes anybody who owns multifamily land already or purchases land to build on by putting them at a competitive disadvantage. If you currently own multifamily zoned vacant land, it will be essentially worthless until 2040."