Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (1/28/25) – FTC Suing Greystar, DOJ Investigating Top Residential Landlords and Trump Facing Housing Conundrum

In our latest roundup, construction technology funding stabilizes, office vacancies hit new high, builders outline recommendations to Trump, and more!

• Following a 44% downturn in construction technology investment in 2023, the contech funding ecosystem seems to have stabilized last year (Matthew Thibault, Construction Dive)
• The Federal Trade Commission and the state of Colorado are suing Greystar for allegedly deceiving consumers about monthly rent costs by adding mandatory fees on top of advertised prices. (Jennifer Goodman, Multifamily Dive)
• To support construction growth, the Associated General Contractors of America recently outlined five key recommendations for the Trump administration. (Sebastian Obando, Smartcities Dive)
• The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating six of America’s largest residential landlords for their alleged involvement in a price-fixing scheme. (Eric McConnell, Yahoo)
• The climbing mortgage rates come even after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a full percentage point in recent months – which had raised hopes among homebuyers that the costs of financing a house might come down. (Laurel Wamsley, NPR)
• Trump faces a housing conundrum: mortgage rates aren’t falling, and home prices are expected to continue rising over the next few years. (Samantha Delouya, CNN)
• Office vacancies hit a new high last year, with 20.4% of office space in the country’s top 50 metro areas empty. (Emily Peck, Axios)