A report from the Denver Post in Colorado. "Developers in metro Denver are churning out so many luxury apartments it is depressing rents in the priciest neighborhoods, forcing landlords to provide more concessions and shrinking the premium tenants pay to live downtown. But is it a bubble ready to burst? The real estate community remains divided about what comes next as a record number of units continue to hit the market in Denver."

"'I personally believe that Denver is overbuilt,' Kelley Klobetanz, chief underwriter at Greystone & Co. in Denver., told attendees at a multifamily conference hosted by Bisnow in Cherry Creek on Thursday."

"Charlie Williams, a senior vice president at KeyBank in Denver, countered that for four years observers have worried about overbuilding in apartments. He even passed on deals that looked too speculative, only to see them succeed. Maybe it takes 18 months instead of 14 to fill a building, or more concessions need to be offered, but every time a new project hits the market, it eventually gets filled, he said. 'We are a market that is diversified finally. Denver isn’t a boom and bust town anymore,' he said."

"But that doesn’t mean the market isn’t straining to absorb what is being built. David Pierce, a market analyst with CoStar Group, detailed the downward pressure all the new supply is having. About one in seven units downtown come with concessions like a month or more of free rent versus 1 in 10 elsewhere. Five years ago, a developer who built or purchased Class A units outside Denver’s core would have enjoyed rent increases of 20 percent versus only 10 percent for those who followed the herd and stayed in the urban core, Pierce’s numbers show."

"So what are developers doing? Last year, they increased the supply of downtown units by about two-thirds over the annual average going back to 2014. They are doubling down rather than pulling back. In the most expensive submarkets, like Cherry Creek and the Golden Triangle, rents are falling. Another warning sign comes in the narrowing spread in rents between Class A units downtown and the older or lower quality Class B and C units. Typically, tenants have paid a 50 percent rent premium to live downtown in the nicest units, but now the gap is only 25 percent, and even lower once concessions are included."

"'The premium to live downtown has narrowed,' said Pierce, who offered a silver lining."

From Tulsa World in Oklahoma. "The University of Oklahoma will likely have less of a budget loss than anticipated during the current fiscal year, its president said Thursday. At a University of Oklahoma Board of Regents meeting, James Gallogly said the state’s flagship university was originally going to have about a $15 million operating loss for the current fiscal year, but the university has found about $12.3 million in cost-savings since he took the helm on July 1. He said that the now-projected loss of about $3 million will likely change as he continues to evaluate the budget and identify further cost-saving measures."

"'We’ve also discovered some items that we were not aware of relating to some budget categories that weren’t properly accounted for,' Gallogly said. 'One of the things I’ll just simply say is that our budgeting process is very weak, and, as a result of that, there seems to be surprise after surprise.'"

"Gallogly first made headlines in June when the then-incoming OU president expressed alarm about the university’s debt obligations, which are more than $1 billion including interest. He then said layoffs were possible as part of the cost-saving measures. At the regents meeting at OU-Tulsa Thursday, Gallogly also described the negative fiscal impact of certain OU student-housing projects on the university."

"He said the university’s two residential colleges — Headington and Dunham — have about a 63 percent occupancy rate between the two, which equates to about a $2.3 million loss. If 100 percent occupied, the colleges would run about a $1 million loss, Gallogly said."

"'At this moment we have about $81.7 million of debt related to those two colleges,' said Gallogly. 'I would also point out that one of the things that we learned in the process of during the construction period that the university had contributed an extra $10 million to construction from general funds so this project has been a very, very difficult project for the university. It does have a significant financial loss.'"

"One of the financial 'surprises,' according to Gallogly, is the expenses incurred by the Cross housing-project. 'We had been told that we had no fiscal responsibility related to that project and we weren’t involved in the debt,' said Gallogly. 'It turns out ... the cash amount that goes out the door from the University of Oklahoma related to the Cross project is about $7.1 million a year.'"

The Union Tribune in California. "Materials for construction of San Diego’s newest buildings are rising fast and some in the industry say it might slow the building boom that has altered downtown’s skyline since the end of the recession. Slowed rent growth and increased labor costs are also seen as problems for the building industry."

"There are enough major building projects ongoing, especially downtown, that it might be a while before anyone notices a slowdown in construction. Companies like Canadian-based Bosa Development have no option but to continue construction on major projects, such as its planned tower off Broadway that will be the tallest residential building in San Diego County’s history."

"'It’s ridiculous,' said Nat Bosa, president of the company, said of steel price increases. 'It’s costing us a few million bucks more.'"

"Rent prices are still going up, but they have slowed considerably compared to past years and the influx of new apartments has meant more open units. New apartment complexes have the highest vacancy rates, according to CoStar. East Village’s newest tower Shift — known for its orange 240-foot tower — has a vacancy rate of 73.6 percent. It has 368 apartments and opened this spring. AV8, a 130-unit aviation-themed complex in Little Italy that opened this spring, has a vacancy rate of 76.9 percent."

"Darcy Miramontes, executive vice president for commercial real estate firm JLL, said it is possible developers might decide to sit on land where they have already gotten approvals to start building. 'I know there is a perception out there that there are a lot of greedy developers,' she said, 'but I will tell you that no developer is really hitting it out of the park on returns at this point.'"

"Bosa said it will ultimately be up to market conditions in the coming years if the cranes that have dotted the skyline for several years will continue. 'If the market (renters and buyers) is willing to pay for it, then it’s OK,' he said. 'If the market is not willing to pay for it, then everything comes to a halt.'"

The Williston Herald in North Dakota. "Vacancy rates went up quite a bit during the downturn, stoking fears that the multifamily sector had overbuilt for the long-term need in the Williston region. However, with crude oil prices in the $60 range, Williston apartments have filled up fast. Despite the fact that apartments are running out of room, however, Mike Elliott, managing principal of Energy Real Estate Solutions doesn’t expect to see too many more multifamily units built, at least, not in the near future."

"The replacement cost on multifamily is $180,000 to $220,000 per unit, Elliott said, 'and they are still trading below $100,000. So it will be a long time before we see developers for multifamily units coming back to market.'"