Foreclosure activity across the United States continues on an upward trend. Among 206 metropolitan areas tracked by RealtyTrac, 65% had year-over-year increases in foreclosures during the third quarter of 2010. For ULI members, a low foreclosure rate can signal a housing market that isn’t flooded with short sales and thus may have more demand for new residential construction. Read about which metros had the worst foreclosure rates for this period.

With hardly anywhere else to go but up, the NAHB’s chief economist, David Crowe, predicts a 21% increase in single-family housing starts this year, but warned that such a big percentage jump will not result in much of an improvement. Read what Crowe, his counterpart at Freddie Mac, and his counterpart at Portland Cement Association said at this year’s NAHB’s annual convention.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is projecting a 16 percent increase in multi-family housing starts this year and a 50 percent jump in 2012 . But the 336,000 units developers are expected to produce over the next 24 months still won’t be enough to meet demand. Read what NAHB chief economist David Crowe, and other industry experts, had to say at NAHB’s annual convention in Orlando, Florida.

Six members of ULI’s three Small-Scale Development Councils speak about the advantages such developers have and the challenges they face in the current economy. Learn which retail tenant is the hardest to get approved, and why municipalities are taking a more favorable approach toward it.

News from NAHB’s annual convention, which was last week in Orlando, Florida: The inability to obtain and hold on to financing to buy land, turn it into building lots and build houses is now the single most important issue facing the nation’s home builders. Read more about the perspectives on finance coming from the NAHB’s annual convention.

As the new year began, the first baby boomer turned age 65—the start of a march toward boomer seniorhood. As seniors, boomers will continue to break the mold with respect to their lifestyles, tastes, and preferences. Read where the highest projected growth of the 65-plus population will occur—and it is not the areas thought of as “older” such as the Rustbelt or rural America.

It is unlikely that the boomers will be looking for traditional retirement housing for at least ten to 15 years. When they do, expect them to want a very different style and organization of seniors’ housing. Read more about what the new seniors will want in housing and how they will live differently that seniors of the past.

A generation with 77 million–plus consumers creates enormous demand. Generation Y inherited the dream of homeownership, and its members are optimistic about being able to acquire a residence at a relatively early age. Read the impact this group will have on the market, and learn which is the sole residential product unlikely to be affected.

After three difficult years of dislocations and losses during which property values were reported to have declined by as much as 40 percent, some relief is coming. So say participants in surveys for Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2011. Learn which five markets were identified by participants as the ones to watch in terms of commercial and multifamily investment.

Stability is slowly returning to the new-homes market. While total single-family and multi-family building permits remain on an up-and-down rollercoaster from month to month, they are on a slight upward trend for the year. Which areas of the country are seeing this the most and what does this mean for ULI members?