A weekend topic starting with KRDO. "According to one of the data analysts who produced the 2023 report, that means under half of the new apartment units constructed in Colorado Springs were occupied as of last December. 'The construction pipeline of apartments in Colorado Springs has gotten so big that they're delivering more apartments in Colorado Springs than people who are renting them,' Scott Rathbun with 1876 Analytics said. He says over five thousand new apartments came online in Colorado Springs, while only 2,317 were occupied by the end of the year."

FOX 10 Phoenix in Arizona. "According to data provided by Kidder Matthews, the vacancy rate for multifamily units in Phoenix is near 10%. Renters like Aiden are also encountering specials like weeks of free rent. 'I got eight weeks,' said Aiden. 'It was pretty nice. Pretty nice indeed!' 'Vacancy rates have ballooned because there’s so much product being delivered,' said Brent Moser with Lee and Associates. 'You had a confluence of several different factors. First, the inflation we felt in ‘21, ’22. Second, Phoenix became an emerging market and grew into its own. It became a popular place to live, and also you had low rates, so that factored into the abundant construction.'"

The Dallas Morning News in Texas. "The median rent for a one-bedroom unit in Dallas was $1,350 last month. That median price represents a drop of 10% since this time last year in Dallas. Only Irving (-15.1%) and Allen (-14.3%) saw larger yearly declines, Zumper research shows. Most cities in D-FW saw prices fall. Weatherford (-5.9%) and Plano (-4.1%) saw the largest monthly rent price drops. Renters should expect to see additional relief this year as many regions deal with housing oversupply. Last year, the U.S. saw the largest number of new apartment units added in 36 years, Richardson-based property management software firm RealPage previously reported."

"Trammell Crow Residential managing director of multifamily development Megan Smith told The Dallas Morning News last month that 2024 and even 2025 may see rent softening in some D-FW submarkets due to the abundance of supply and planned projects."

The Observer. "A recent report from Rent.com said data over the last year shows a 9.41% decrease in rent prices in Florida, but despite the decrease the median rent is still $2,095. Another report from the rental website Zumper.com which lists over 300 Palm Coast properties for rent, showed prices in Palm Coast have decreased 11% from January 2023. In Ormond Beach, the median price of a rental property is $2,350, based on the 90 rentals listed on Zumper. Rent for one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom properties are all down from last year — 17%, 6%, 1% and 27%, respectively."

"Joseph Palmer, broker and owner of Sunrise Property Management of Volusia County, said the rent decreases are a result of supply and demand. Less people are inquiring on rental properties listed at over $1,800 a month than they were a couple years ago. The listings that would generate between two and three dozen inquiries within days started to decrease to about three or four only around August or September 2023. 'It stayed that way all through last fall and carried also into this year where we're not getting the volume of inquiries that we've had,' Palmer said. He believes it could be a result of less people moving into the area compared to immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, the decrease in inquiries led many of his property owners to drop the rent on their properties by at least 10%."

The News Tribune in Washington. "The apartment-building boom might be slightly cooling in Tacoma as other areas take off and the city pushes forward with plans to make more types of housing possible. Beyond Tacoma's city limits, University Place/Fircrest have seen construction of hundreds of new apartments, while the city of Lakewood recently announced a developer's plan for hundreds of new apartments coming to Lakewood Towne Center area. With incredible progress also has come spectacular flops. Funding problems last year stalled Tacoma Trax and continued to stall Tacoma Town Center, while Point Ruston is in the middle of foreclosure proceedings on parcels that include yet-to-be developed multifamily-unit buildings."

"Tacoma-based builder Harbor Custom Development, which in recent years pivoted to multifamily apartment development in the area, declared bankruptcy in December 2023. Neal Johnson, principal of Sound Resource Economics, noted at the breakfast on Jan. 31, 'Going forward, construction is going to take a hit,' in terms of permitting and employment."

11 Alive on Georgia. "Being a pro at something isn’t always a good thing. Take the term professional tenant. It means the person is good at exploiting the system to avoid paying rent. Kenny Luna believed he’d become the victim of a professional tenant after he met Shetial. 11Alive Investigates is not using her full name because she has not been charged with any crime. Luna figured out where she was headed next, with her two kids in tow, and reached out to ensure they didn’t become her next target. 'It was after she gave me a letter from her bank saying, 'We have your money, but we can't give it to you because you have fraud. So we have to hold on to this money,' said Luna, who added that something about the letter didn’t seem right."

"Two other landlords shared letters from banks they could never verify and one had a notarized letter that proved to have no basis in reality. All of the documents claimed Shetial was the victim of identity theft. When Shetial was asked about it, she seemed confused, and responded with: 'What are you talking about?' Court records show that Shetial has lived in at least six different homes in two years. All of her previous landlords were trying to collect some debt for unpaid rent. Shetial wrote once, 'I am filing an answer to this case.' According to court filings, in another case, she told the court she 'tried to pay, but the landlord wouldn’t take her money.'"

"Luna finds that hard to believe. 'I basically told her, you know, are you going to pay anything before you leave?' Luna recalled. 'And she literally said, 'No, I'm not paying you anything.'"

The Daily Cardinal in Wisconsin. "As students scramble for housing in a market so competitive that students are signing leases a year in advance, city officials continue to wrestle with a housing crisis. In 2023, Madison’s rent prices increased 14%, according to Isthmus — the largest increase for any U.S. major city. So why are luxury units struggling to find tenants? Madison is seeing rapid expansion of new luxury apartment complexes for the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Luxury developers have offered a variety of flash sales and giveaways in recent months through social media posts, student-received emails and other promotions."

"UW-Madison freshman Sydney Ziemniak said she noticed the discounted leases when looking for housing last fall but still felt renting a space from luxury apartments was financially out of reach. Ziemniak said proximity was important when searching for housing, but she was unwilling to compromise on affordability. 'I want to be able to walk to all my classes and have a convenient location, [but] it felt like every time I wanted something near campus it would just be so overpriced,' she said. Chapter’s amenities include a fitness center, a 3D printing lab and a rooftop sundeck. At Oliv and Atmosphere, tenants have an in-ground pool and coffee shop. But Ziemniak said she feels amenities like these are not necessary for student apartments."

Bisnow New York. "New York Community Bancorp’s Thursday morning conference call followed a chaotic Wednesday that began with its stock dropping 40% before its trading was halted. It ended with a $1B cash infusion and takeover from a group of investment funds, led by the firm founded by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. While Mnuchin's equity investment stopped NYCB from exploding, its near-collapse coming almost a year to the day after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank triggered a kind of post-traumatic stress response among property owners in New York City, particularly apartment landlords."

"The bank had $18B of loans covering rent-regulated properties, with 14% at risk of default as of the end of January. Overall, multifamily loans make up 44% of NYCB’s loan book, and around 8% of those are marked as criticized or in probability of default. Generally, property lenders are faced with a lag, Terra Strategies Managing Partner Shlomo Chopp said. 'Borrowers and developers naturally are sunny people,' Chopp said. 'You have this disconnect where everyone is moping and complaining, then the lender calls. They don't want the lender to get upset at them, so they give one story. Then it becomes a problem,' Chopp added."

"Chopp said market players are skeptical that other banks that have been active in New York can escape the fallout. 'Everybody's got the same problems,' Chopp said. 'I don't think that any other bank is better than NYCB.'"

Global News in Canada. "Okanagan developers are struggling with an onslaught of conditions that are making the business of building a harder sell. 'Most of the industry, they're saying that it kind of feels like just before the big recession when everything ground to a halt,' Mark Holland from the Urban Development Institute said. 'And it's not anyone's particular responsibility or problem and, I will say, the cities of Kelowna and West Kelowna are largely considered across B.C. (as some) of the best communities to do business in if you're trying to build housing… This is not forever, but at this moment in time (the industry) is really fragile, and the slightest increase in cost may result in the bank saying, 'No, I'm not going to lend you the money to build this. One of the biggest reasons is that based on the slow growth of incomes over a long period of time, the ability of people to pay rent or to pay a mortgage has not kept up with the increase in costs.' Developers, in turn, won't have the money to build it."

"When banks aren't able to see builders able to sell or rent the housing that they build for enough money to cover off all the costs, they get very uneasy and Holland said they essentially start pulling back on lending money."

The Palatinate in the UK. "An investigation by Palatinate has found that many estate agents in Durham have reduced the prices of student properties available for 2024/25 after imposing significant rent increases at the start of the year. Palatinate previously reported that over 300 student houses were still on the market in Durham in February 2024. This is a departure from the early housing rush seen in previous years; for example, in January 2022, there were only 68 properties left on StuRents. Some estate agents have encouraged students to sign early, with Harringtons’ website stating: 'Letting season starts at the beginning of November and properties move fast, so best get your skates on.'"

"Out of the 93 properties on Harringtons’ website on 1st March 2024 that were also advertised at the start of the letting season, only 16 are advertised at the same price as in October 2023. 37 properties have seen a 20% or greater reduction in price since October. Some of these properties are no longer advertised with bills. 31 and 19 Hawthorn Terrace are among some of the properties to see a 25% reduction in price. In February 2024, JW Wood told Palatinate that 'our pricing reflects current market rates and we have let over 80% of our student portfolio.' However, many of its properties still leftover to rent have decreased in price since October. Some of these rent reductions have been by as much as 50%."

"Durham’s Student’s Union President Dan Lonsdale told Palatinate: 'Isn’t it nice to see estate agents panicking for a change, instead of students? These ‘special’ deals and rent reductions prove what we have always known: the pricing of housing in Durham is purely artificial.'"