April 15, 2011, was a “Black Friday” of sorts, with federal bank regulators closing six banks, representing a serious increase in such activity. Commercial real estate loans accounted for $304 million of the banks’ combined distressed portfolio, or about 76 percent of total footings. Read what analysis of the numbers says about the continuation of real estate loans going bad and banks failing.

Everyone knows the role the federal government plays in the D.C. area’s enduring economic strength, but fewer people realize that educational and medical facilities are playing an increasingly dominant role in the regional and national economy. Read what participants in the “Eds and Meds” panel at ULI Washington’s Real Estate Trends Conference said in regard to developing property for this sector.

“By integrating one of the oldest buildings in Milpitas within a new, high-density community, the city is able to grow while still maintaining the continuity and historic feel of its city center.” Read about the seniors’ housing project in California—honored in the 2009 ULI Awards for Excellence: The Americas competition—that inspired this description.

Since the middle of 2010, health care and seniors’ housing REITs have announced more than $20 billion in consolidations and partnerships—a significant surge from the $2.9 billion in deals done in 2009 and the $1.8 billion in 2008. Read why billion-dollar acquisitions in seniors’ housing, unthinkable a year ago, are quickly becoming the norm.

As the percentage of the U.S. population age 65 and older continues to grow, housing for seniors must adapt. Learn which market—the suburbs or the cities—has the greatest potential for development of housing for seniors and where developers are having success obtaining financing.

At the NAHB’s spring construction forecast conference late last month, economists agreed that the next 12 months are going to be difficult for homebuilders. After that, however, momentum is expected to begin to build in 2012 and, by the end of that year, homebuilders may be where they were at the beginning of 2007. Read the data on future single-family starts that industry experts shared.

Despite the fragility of the economic recovery and the serious challenges that loom ahead, this is a rare moment to be either at the top or at the bottom of the real estate industry stack. It is those in the middle who are being squeezed. Read about the five elements that will define the real estate firm of the future.

In Urban Green, author Peter Harnick asks fundamental questions about which kinds of parks to build, how much to build, for whom to build, and where the parks should go. Read what he considers essential in order for park advocates to move “to the point where a mayor’s traditional directive to a park superintendent—‘do more with less’—is replaced with the liberating permission to ‘do more with more.’”

Washington, D.C., is not only the capital of the United States, but also the darling of the capital markets, with real estate that is “close to fully priced,” said Greg Vorwaller, head of global capital markets for Cushman & Wakefield, at ULI Washington’s annual Real Estate Trends Conference. But how long will the good times roll?

The Orlando area is seeing a gradual improvement in both demand for land and in pricing, but Tampa Bay is doing considerably better, say real estate insiders in Florida. Read how the Orlando area is already seeing strong multifamily interest and how the Tampa Bay residential markets are expected to see a slow recovery in 2011—even in light of the lingering effects of the Great Recession.