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☆ Zillow stock up following fourth-quarter earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of Zillow popped more than 3% Wednesday in extended trading after the company released fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations on top and bottom lines. The company's Internet, Media and Technology segment's revenue came in at $417 million, a decline of 14% year over year. That segment, which represents the bulk of the company's business, includes various services for agents and consumers. Traffic to Zillow's mobile apps and websites reached 198 million average monthly unique users for the fourth quarter, flat year over year. The company will hold its quarterly call with investors at 5 p.m.

☆ Chicago Property Developer Scores With Audacious Interest-Rate Bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Will Parker | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The sudden surge in interest rates has been a nightmare for most commercial real-estate owners. David Scherer is the rare property developer who has been able to cash in on it. About a year ago, Mr. Scherer wagered interest rates would rise. This bet had nothing directly to do with his portfolio of multifamily buildings. His firm bought a type of derivatives contract more commonly used by large financial institutions and hedge funds to balance risk from their investments.

☆ Long Island Republican warns of 'suburban uprising' over New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to rezone land to allow greater density for affordable housing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Long Island Republican warned of a "suburban uprising" over Gov. Bruce Blakeman said that Hochul's plan would trample over the autonomy of local communities. For generations, Long Island was a GOP bastion, filled with fiscally and socially conservative voters from across the political spectrum. Hochul's proposal would push for more multifamily housing developments near Long Island Rail Road stations. Still, her plan remains a tough sell for other Long Island politicians.

☆ Armada Hoffler Plans Private Bond Sales After Securing First Credit Rating
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Real-estate investment trust Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. plans to raise financing through a series of private placements after securing its first credit rating, a move to wean itself off variable-rate debt as interest rates continue to climb. Armada Hoffler, which invests in office, retail and multifamily properties, on Tuesday said it obtained a BBB rating from ratings firm DBRS Morningstar. Armada Hoffler will likely always have some variable debt, which it needs to take out construction loans, he said. Armada Hoffler is developing a new headquarters for asset manager T. Rowe Price Group Inc. in Baltimore, in partnership with real-estate developer Beatty Development Group LLP. In addition to acquiring properties, Armada Hoffler has development, construction and asset-management business lines.

☆ Four-time NBA champion Steph Curry joins his rich neighbors in opposing much-needed new housing near their Bay Area backyards
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Steph and Ayesha Curry penned a letter opposing a townhouse development near their home in Atherton, California. "This is a tough thing for a community like Atherton to change," Atherton City Manager George Rodericks told NBC. Since 1969, California law has required cities to update their housing and land use needs, known as "Housing Elements," every eight years to ensure enough affordable housing is available to residents. Cities who fail to comply with the deadline could lose grant funding and face lawsuits from the state Attorney General. Cities spanning from San Francisco to Los Angeles have had their plans approved by state regulators, with many plans including efforts to increase density on developable land.

☆ This company says it can cut building costs with AI technology that herds contractors and measures their progress. See the pitch deck it used to raise $10 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Construction relies on myriad contractors, making it hard for developers to fully follow projects. OnsiteIQ raised $10 million to bring AI vision on board so developers can see and record progress. The company's CEO walked Insider through the deck the firm used to raise the funds. According to Khosrowpour, that's why 72% of construction projects experience delays. Khosrowpour walked Insider through the pitch deck that helped the firm raise $10 million.

☆ Biden administration unveils rent protections
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Washington, DC CNN —In response to rent payments soaring across the country in recent years, the Biden administration unveiled new actions Wednesday to protect tenants, make renting more affordable and improve fairness in the rental housing market. The agencies involved include the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice. The FHFA will initiate a process to examine limits on egregious rent increases and proposals for renter protections for future investments. The administration also set out its guiding principles in its “Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights,” which, while not enforceable, aims to underscore protections the administration says every renter deserves. Meanwhile, others in the housing industry say that this kind of federal involvement in housing policy serves to increase housing costs.

☆ 5 questions to ask before buying your first electric car
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Today's electric car buyers have a lot of questions. Potential EV drivers have plenty of questions, and there's plenty you need to know before buying an electric car. Regardless, here are some tips on what to ask your dealer or sales advisor if you're considering buying an EV. It's important for car-buyers considering an EV to ask about how it fits into an average driver's lifestyle. But given how much this market depends on improvements in battery tech, dealers should still be ready to talk about what separates their EV's battery from competitors.

☆ How to get ahead in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

We've got top tips for stocks (and serving prison time), a path to financial freedom, and what to expect for the rest of 2023. If you want to start investing in real estate this year, Harr says don't be deterred by uncertainty or high-interest rates. US stocks got off to a choppy start in the first week of 2023, however, Goldman Sachs still sees attractive investing opportunities. According to Grant Sabatier, 2023 will be the year of the "the creator millionaire" — here's how he plans to take advantage of it. As one expert said: "2023 is going to be the survival of the fittest."

☆ Let the consolidation begin: With venture markets frozen and profitability tenuous, proptechs turn to one another
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The co-living operators Common and Habyt merged; Pagaya brought the property manager Darwin Homes. The proptech companies that sprang up by the dozens in the past few years are now looking to one another for help. A massive consolidation among companies that seek to make real-estate transactions and services more efficient and profitable is underway. Cushman & Wakefield reported 90% occupancy rates for co-living companies at the end of the third quarter of 2022, and traditional real-estate firms like Cushman and Greystar are now offering their own co-living brands. In property management, the consolidation phase is already well underway, said Paul Stanton, the other founding partner at Proptech Bankers.

☆ 3D printing reaches new heights with two-story home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Evan Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A 12-ton industrial 3-D printer is used to print concrete for the first 3-D-printed, two-story home under construction in Houston, Texas, U.S., January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Evan GarciaHOUSTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A 3D printer is taking home building to a new level — literally. The project is a two-year collaboration by Hannah, Peri 3D Construction and Cive, a construction engineering company. “Traditional construction, you know the rules, you know the game, you know the material properties, the material behavior. “The material is new, although concrete is an old material in general, but 3D printing concrete is something new.”Read more:Scientists chip away at how ancient Roman concrete stood test of timeReporting by Evan Garcia; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 2023 is 'a generational buying opportunity' for real estate investing, says the CEO of a private equity firm. He shares which sectors offer the best returns and the REITs to buy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

For real estate, he recommends investing in REITs that are managed by major financial firms. The real estate market last year took a massive hit as interest rates increased at an unprecedented velocity due to the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening. Ari Rastegar, the founder and CEO of Rastegar Property Company, says just looking at macroeconomic trends won't give investors the full picture. Real estate investment trusts, which are entities that own and operate income-producing properties, are on clearance, he said. He recommends looking at the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) and the Starwood Real Estate Income Trust (SREIT).

Parafin, launched in 2020, works with so-called platform partners, or companies that other small businesses sell their products through. All the cofounders knew was that they wanted to build technology that would help small businesses. And they may not get their first contract payment from the government for as long as 120 days," Reed, the startup's CEO, told Insider. Helping small businesses manage their taxesComplYant's founder Shiloh Jackson wants to help people be present in their bookkeeping. HoneyBookWhile countless small businesses have been harmed by the pandemic, self-employment and entrepreneurship have found ways to blossom as Americans started new ventures.

☆ Meet the guy whose algorithm could solve the crisis of America's empty office space
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Converting offices into apartments brings people back to downtown areas as residents, not commuters. The algorithm is able to quickly assess which office buildings are viable for conversion to apartments, which are known in industry parlance as multifamily residential. "And then, actually, the demand for the remaining office buildings goes up, because you're creating scarcity by taking some out of the market." Most urban centers lack sufficient housing, but turning office buildings into apartments helps add additional units to rent or buy. About 28% of the area's office space is vacant.

☆ Over half of US buyers think electric cars cost way too much
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The cost of electric cars continues to hamper adoption, consultancy Deloitte found in a new survey. More than half of consumers say cost is standing in the way of an EV purchase. 47% cited charging time, and 46% cited lack of public charging infrastructure. The latter is particularly interesting given that 77% of those intending to buy electric at some point expect to charge their vehicle most often at home. That means those EV drivers could rely less on public charging infrastructure.

☆ It's official: Remote work is going to make it easier to buy a home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Remote work pushed housing trends into warp speedIn some ways, the pandemic's housing shifts were a long time coming. The shift to remote work also hastened many people's desire for more space. Across the country, remote workers chose to part ways with roommates or seek out larger homes. Elon Musk asserted his authority at Twitter by putting an end to remote work. On the other hand, as my colleague Aki Ito previously argued, a recession could further ingrain remote work as employers look to cut spending on real estate.

☆ Apartment Rent Growth Set to Keep Slowing This Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Will Parker | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The West River apartment complex in Tampa, Fla. A slowdown in rental price increases would bring relief to many tenants whose wages aren’t keeping pace with rents. The pandemic-fueled boom for multifamily building owners is fading fast going into 2023. Apartment vacancies are piling up. The biggest wave of new rental buildings in nearly four decades is expected to cut the pace of rent growth across the country. Some in-demand Sunbelt cities are already experiencing rent declines, in part because many tenants and people searching for apartments feel they can’t devote any more of their income to rent.

☆ Apartment Rent Increases Slow, a Relief to Tenants After Two Years of Steep Rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Will Parker | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ The University of California invested $4 billion with Blackstone to buy up rental apartments and student housing, which they see as the bright spots in the real estate market this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The University of California is investing $4 billion with Blackstone to acquire rentals and student housing. The investment comes at a crucial time for Blackstone's Real Estate Income Trust Inc. fund — also known as BREIT— a $68 billion property investment vehicle. "We consider BREIT to be one of the best positioned, large-scale real estate portfolios in the US, managed by one of the world's top real estate investors," said Jagdeep Singh Bachher, the University of California's chief investment officer. The University of California's investment could become a model for other universities with large endowment funds — typically in the billions of dollars — that want to invest in real estate investment trusts or commercial real estate assets. BREIT's portfolio includes assets in popular college towns such as Fort Collins, Colorado, where Colorado State University is located, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which is home to Louisiana State University, according to the fund's website.

Insider's rising stars of real estate span roles in leasing, affordable housing, and urban planning. We asked 20 of these young industry experts and innovators to offer predictions for 2023. 2022 wreaked havoc on the housing market: Mortgage rates rose at a fast clip, bidding wars cooled, the Airbnb market shifted, and some high-flying proptech darlings crashed back down to earth. Insider picked 30 rising stars of commercial and residential real estate who're transforming the way homes are sold and offices get built. Here are the predictions for 2023 from our rising stars:

☆ This 29-year-old CEO is constructing apartment buildings out of factory-produced modules, and it might make homes more affordable for renters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Modular construction can make housing more affordable by delivering units at a lower cost, he says. Economies of scale not only reduce material costs, but they can also reduce waste generated during construction, Lawrence added. "Modular construction has the potential to provide housing at a lower cost and deliver buildings in a more cost-effective way than traditional sticks-and-bricks construction," Lawrence said. These apartments are also hitting the market at a time when real wages in Minneapolis are decreasing because of inflation. "We've proved that there are real cost and time savings associated with modular construction," Lawrence said

☆ A married couple with a 47-unit real estate portfolio worth $19 million explain why the housing market is setting investors up for 'significant opportunities' in 2023 — and the top regions to buy in
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Kenny Simpson and Krystle Moore have amassed a $19 million, 47-unit real estate portfolio. With a recession on the horizon, inflation remaining at decades-high levels, and rapidly climbing interest rates, the future of the real estate market heading into 2023 seems bleak. "I think the general theme of 2023 is going to be significant opportunities for people in real estate," Moore told Insider in a recent interview. A Fed pivot will also help stimulate the real estate market since the industry is highly sensitive to rates, boosting jobs in construction and lending. Finding emerging markets can be a goldmine for real estate investors, since these areas are oftentimes cheaper than their more established counterparts.

☆ 5 ways to make affordable housing for all in 2023 — from construction laws to mortgage financing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Houston has been able to keep its housing affordable in large part because of just this, he said. Jeff Tucker, the chief economist at Zillow, also told Insider that the biggest hurdle to affordable housing was "zoning reform." California has already done this when its citizens voted to pass Proposition 46, which provides funding specifically for affordable housing. It allocated just shy of $1 billion to the multifamily sector, according to CCIM, and is expected to see $13 billion in private funds be pushed into affordable housing. In July, Ginnie Mae, a federally-backed mortgage provider, specifically focused on affordable housing, requested that a manufactured home mortgage program be extended.

☆ How San Francisco can tackle two of its biggest issues: office vacancies and housing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Sydney Boyo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"Prior to the pandemic, in the city of San Francisco, our office vacancy rate was about 4%. San Francisco has been referred to as the work-from-home capital of the United States, with the American Community Survey finding that 46% of employees in San Francisco worked from home in 2021, up from 7% in 2019. Under the Housing Element, the state of California is mandating that San Francisco build 82,000 new units of housing, including affordable units meant for low-income residents, by 2031. "The rents that you can get for a life sciences lab space are much higher than office space. The San Francisco mayor said the problem is that it takes a long time to build housing, especially given all the requirements.

☆ A band of immigrant tenants went to war with their $31 billion landlord. It's a sneak peek at what's to come across America.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

In Alexandria, Virginia, $31 billion landlord CIM Group bought a massive apartment complex in 2020. The group was organizing against CIM Group, the landlord they said had upended their lives. Insider spoke with 10 Southern Towers tenants. The battle between the Southern Towers tenants and CIM could presage what's to come across America. "We're not going to leave"The Southern Towers tenants aren't the only ones following the money.

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