DOJ Sues New Jersey Town Over Natural Gas Ban

 by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Morris Township in New Jersey over its ban on natural gas and other fossil fuels in newly constructed buildings, the department said in an April 1 statement.

Blue flames from a gas stove at a home in Arlington, Va., on May 3, 2023. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

The ban “drives up energy costs for everyday American consumers and weakens our Nation’s energy dominance,” the DOJ said.

“Such policies reflect a radical left effort to outlaw federally regulated gas stoves, furnaces, water heaters, dryers, and other appliances that American families rely on daily to cook their meals and heat their homes.”

The lawsuit, filed on March 31 at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, takes issue with an ordinance the township passed in 2022.

The ordinance said that beginning Sept. 1, 2022, officials shall not issue a construction permit for any new apartments consisting of 12 or more units unless the building is all-electric.

The ordinance defines an all-electric building as not using natural gas, propane, or oil heaters, or their associated delivery systems—boilers, piping systems, fixtures, and infrastructures—to meet its energy needs.

In its lawsuit, the DOJ argues that the ordinance denies the township’s consumers “reliable, resilient, and affordable energy,” as well as the option to use commonplace gas appliances for heating, cooking, and other household tasks.

Moreover, the township’s ban on natural gas is unlawful, as the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 preempts state and local regulations related to energy efficiency or energy use of any product subject to the federal government’s energy conservation standard, the complaint said.

The DOJ argued that the Ninth Circuit Court recently ruled that banning the installation of natural gas piping in new buildings was preempted by Congress via EPCA. This legal precedent makes Morris Township’s gas ban “invalid.”

The department asked the court to rule the township’s ordinance as “void and unenforceable.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the mayor of Morris Township for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

“Where the federal government has exclusive authority to regulate appliances and infrastructure, we will fight state and local overreach,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson, from the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said.

“Banning natural gas is illegal. It makes heating, cooking, drying, and other life functions more unaffordable for consumers. This Administration is committed to unleashing American energy and empowering Americans.”

Trump’s Executive Order

In the lawsuit, the DOJ cited President Donald Trump’s April 8, 2025, executive order, titled Protecting American Energy From State Overreach.

State laws and policies that seek to institute climate regulations related to energy weaken America’s national security and bring about financial ruin by pushing up energy costs for families, Trump wrote in the order, adding that such rules undermine federalism by “projecting the regulatory preferences of a few States into all States.”

Trump instructed the Attorney General to take “all appropriate action” necessary to stop the enforcement of state and local laws, policies, and practices that burden the development and use of domestic energy resources.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the DOJ’s lawsuit against Morris Township follows two similar successful lawsuits in California.

“Radical environmentalist policies that drive up costs and limit consumer choice will not stand,” Bondi said.

In January, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Morgan Hill and Petaluma, cities in California, over their natural gas bans.

The DOJ said in the recent statement that due to the lawsuit, both cities recently passed ordinances rescinding natural gas bans.

Meanwhile, a new bill, the Affordable Home Energy Protection Act, which seeks to tackle the issue of local energy restrictions, was introduced last month in the Legislature of New Jersey, where Morris Township is located.

Several localities have attempted to ban or restrict the use of natural gas hookups or combustion-based appliances in newly constructed or renovated buildings without properly considering costs, feasibility, or consumer preferences, the measure said.

The bill explicitly bans state agencies and local governments from adopting any rule that “prohibits or unduly restricts the installation, connection, or use of appliances or heating systems powered by natural gas, propane, or fuel oil in residential or commercial buildings.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/doj-sues-new-jersey-town-over-natural-gas-ban

LA leads nation in massive population exodus as ‘breaking point’ hits Golden State

 Los Angeles County, once the symbol of American prosperity and Hollywood dreams, has earned the title of the nation's leader in population loss.

The latest U.S. Census data shows shows that between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, 53,421 residents left the county, marking the largest decline in the U.S. Additionally, Los Angeles County has fallen from about 10 million residents in 2020 to roughly 9.7 million today.

"There is a real sense of burnout. They are paying insane taxes and getting absolutely nothing in return," RIVANI founder Robert Rivani — who has seen a big migration of companies moving their headquarters to his Miami building from California, including Playboy — told Fox News Digital. "People feel like they’re living in a place that’s draining them financially and in exchange they’re dealing with rising crime, shrinking services, and a sense that everyone around them is trying to leave too."

"When I moved my family and my company here, everyone thought I was crazy," Rivani continued. "They were convinced LA was going to bounce back and that the problems were temporary. I saw the writing on the wall, and Miami has proven over and over that we made the right call."

"It isn’t just one factor, it’s the breaking point phenomenon. The taxes, the lack of safety, the red tape," Compass' Chad Carroll also told Fox News Digital. "I have a client from California whose home was broken into twice in the past six months. The whole political landscape there is destroying the state."

"These are individuals who have spent their lives building businesses and wealth," Carroll added, "and they feel that California has become a place that takes everything and gives back very little in terms of safety, infrastructure and opportunity."

The fleeing Angelenos are seeking areas with lower living costs and different political climates. Census data indicate that Riverside and San Bernardino gained 21,131 residents from Los Angeles County, while Las Vegas saw a boost of more than 21,000 people last year.

arroll, an alum of "Million Dollar Listing Miami," and Rivani argue people are gravitating toward places where "their money stretches further and they feel welcome."

They both also warn that a shrinking population serves "a direct hit" to Los Angeles' financial backbone.

"Real estate value is driven by demand and the quality of the surrounding tax base. When the top 1% flee, they take the tax revenue that funds the parks, the police and the schools with them, and that has a major trickle-down effect," Carroll said. "You can’t lose 300,000 residents, specifically high-earners, and expect your property values to keep pace with the growth we’re seeing in the Sunbelt."

"Those services are what keep a city functional. If you don’t have the tax base to support them, everything declines. And when the government’s only answer is to tax whoever is left even more, you create a vicious cycle where even more people pack up and go," Rivani expanded.

Los Angeles isn’t alone, as other high-tax, high-regulation hubs in California also saw significant population drops. Orange County lost 8,520 residents; San Diego lost 5,294; and Ventura County saw a decline of 2,580.

"The numbers don't lie, and they should be a big wake-up call," Carroll urged. "We are seeing a historic wealth transfer that is going to define the foreseeable future of U.S. real estate. With the rise of the tech and finance sectors in Miami and West Palm Beach, the Sunbelt is the new frontier of American success."

In recent months, many wealthy Californians have relocated across state lines, with top luxury developers previously telling Fox News Digital that more than $126 million in sales were secured in just 60 days from buyers in California and New York — driven by California’s proposed 5% one-time billionaire tax and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s talk of higher property taxes.

"Los Angeles is not the Hollywood star it once was, and I don’t think it can return to that. The government running it today has created a reality that people don’t want to live in, and it’s extremely hard to reverse that kind of decline. Once a city loses its shine, it’s almost impossible to get it back," Rivani said. "The polls show leading candidates for governor are Republican, which tells you how fed up people are with the direction of the state. It would take a lot of reform to bring it back to its glory days."

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/los-angeles-leads-nation-massive-population-exodus-breaking-point-hits-golden-state

'Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae rally on Ackman call'

Shares of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae jumped more than 20% on Monday after billionaire investor Bill Ackman called the two mortgage finance companies "stupidly cheap" over the weekend.

Ackman said on X that the trade offered "asymmetry at its best" and argued the stocks could rise 10-fold, helping fuel the move in both companies' common shares.

At 10:16 am ET, Fannie Mae shares rose 25.51% to $6.10, while Freddie Mac climbed 21.69% to $5.30.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Freddie-Mac-Fannie-Mae-rally-on-Ackman-call/65978673

US Office-To-Apartment Conversions Hit New Record: Report

 by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times,

This year is another record year for the conversion of office buildings into residential apartments in the United States, according to a recent RentCafe report.

At the beginning of 2026, 90,300 apartments were in the process of conversion across America—a 28 percent increase from 70,600 last year, according to the March 24 report.

At 47 percent, office conversions now comprise almost half of all adaptive reuse projects nationwide, with the New York metro area leading the way with 16,358 conversions in the pipeline. Washington, D.C., placed second with 8,479 conversions and Chicago third, with 4,360.

“The imbalance in the office sector didn’t emerge overnight,” Yardi research director Peter Kolaczynski said in the report.

“COVID-19 is to the office market what eCommerce was to retail. As a result, there is simply too much office space in the market right now.”

Yardi Matrix is a sister company to RentCafe and provides market research and data for the residential and commercial real estate markets.

Office-to-apartment conversions have expanded rapidly since 2022, when just 23,100 units nationwide were created from former commercial buildings. That number nearly doubled to 45,200 conversions in 2024, and rose to 55,300 in 2024.

In early 2025, the report indicated 70,700 conversions were on tap, as the national office vacancy rate was close to 20 percent. Meanwhile, physical occupancy in many buildings remained between only 50 percent and 55 percent, leaving millions of square feet underused.

Doug Ressler, senior analyst with Yardi Matrix, noted that financial pressure and government-backed incentives are also escalating conversions this year. Nearly one-third of U.S. office loans are set to mature in 2027, and many owners are facing pressure to take action on any underperforming properties.

“A massive amount of office building loans—over $213 billion—are coming due by the end of  2026. When loans mature, borrowers need to either pay them off or refinance them,” he said in the report.

“The problem is that many of these office buildings have lost significant value largely due to remote work trends reducing demand.”

Still, these types of conversions often take several years to complete, as the process can be slowed by structural issues, high construction costs, financing needs, or local regulations.

Ressler said nearly 66,500 projects started in 2025 are still moving forward in 2026. When combined with newly proposed projects, the total number is up by 19,600 units year over year.

Nationwide, office buildings account for the largest share of reuse, at 47 percent, followed by hotel conversions at 18 percent, industrial properties at 16 percent, and a mixed bag of properties—including former schools, retail centers, health care facilities, and government buildings, at 19 percent.

Nationally, more than 1.9 billion square feet of office space—24 percent of total inventory—is considered suitable for conversion, according to the conversion feasibility index from CommercialEdge.

“Age matters, but so do footprint and structural layout,” Kolaczynski added.

“ If a building is functionally obsolete as an office but has the right bones, it can be a strong conversion candidate.”

Other key ingredients for conversion consideration are proximity to mass transit and walkability to stores, restaurants, and parks.

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/us-office-apartment-conversions-hit-new-record-report

Map Shows Homebuilders Pulling Back Nationwide "Given Limited Visibility To Demand"

 Even as homebuilders offer mortgage-rate buydowns, closing-cost incentives, and upgraded amenities to attract buyers on the sidelines, clouds of uncertainty continue to build over the housing market. New U.S. single-family permit activity fell again in January, highlighting yet more caution among builders ahead of the spring selling season as they respond to softer demand.

Goldman analysts, led by Susan Maklari, provided clients on Friday with a snapshot of homebuilders across America and a housing heat map suggesting continued sluggishness across the industry.

On a trailing 12-month basis, single-family permits fell 8% in January, versus 7% in the previous month, and were up 6% in December 2025.

Maklari said, "Ongoing moderation comes as builders look to limit unsold inventory given limited visibility to demand."

Some of the January weakness stemmed from severe winter weather and dangerously cold temperatures, which delayed permits and construction in parts of the eastern U.S., including major homebuilding markets such as Texas, Florida, and the Southeast. However, the snow and sub-zero temperatures are only one part of the slowdown story. 

The analyst added that builders are dealing with a challenging macroeconomic environment for buyers, noting that sales traffic improved earlier in the year but vanished in March, according to the latest industry checks, as consumers "react to the effects of the Middle East conflict."

At the same time, mortgage rates have jumped about 40 basis points over the last month, making monthly payments even less affordable as the housing market is stuck in the worst affordability crisis in a generation, a leftover gift from the Biden-Harris era.

The slowdown is most visible in some of the biggest new-home states:

Single-family permits for the 3-months ended January fell 11% YOY, compared to -9% in December, and -1% a year ago. That said, they were up 7% vs the comparable pre-pandemic period. Looking at the largest new home markets, the deceleration was led by Colorado (-21%), Texas (-20%), and Nevada (-19%) while the Northeast and Pacific Northwest outperformed. Nationally, we note 8 states were flat to up vs 11 in December. This comes as builders continue to align starts to demand while focusing on profitability and cash generation. As such, we expect permits will remain under pressure in the near-term.

At the metro level, the permit picture is deteriorating across the top 50 metro areas, with permits down 15% from one year ago, and some of the sharpest declines are in places such as Stockton, Richmond, and Cape Coral.

Permits in the top 50 MSAs declined 15% YOY for the 3 months ended December vs -13% in December and -4% in January 2025. On a YOY basis, Miami, FL (+33%), North Port, FL (+31%), and Portland, OR (+17%) showed the greatest gains while Stockton, CA (-47%), Richmond, VA (-39%), and Cape-Coral, FL (-36%) lagged. On a 2-year stack, growth was led by Colorado Springs, CO (+33%), Oklahoma City, OK (+30%), and Columbus, OH (+13%) while Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL (-52%), Myrtle Beach, SC-NC (-48%), and Denver, CO (-45%) had the largest losses.

Trailing 12 Month Single-Family Permits by State

Trailing 3 Month Single-Family Permits by State

Permits for Top 50 MSAs

A look at home prices shows the market is still rising nationally, but momentum has cooled.

Zillow's single-family home value index showed prices were modestly higher in February versus one year ago, in line with January and below the 3% annual gain seen a year ago. The data shows that home values remain up 55% since February 2019. 

Regionally, home price strength was concentrated in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast, with Wisconsin, North Dakota, Illinois, and New York each posting 5% annual increases, while Connecticut, Michigan, and Iowa rose 4%. Sun Belt weakness persisted due to oversupply concerns, led by a decline in Florida, while Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia were down around 2%.

The slowdown in permits suggests the spring selling season may be weaker than expected. Builders remain wary of demand, and with mortgage rates moving higher and uncertainty growing due to the US-Iran conflict, the housing market as a whole appears to be in continued paralysis.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/map-shows-homebuilders-pulling-back-given-limited-visibility-demand

Time to Dismantle New Jersey’s Mount Laurel Real Estate Scam

 The absurdity of New Jersey’s ill-conceived affordable housing laws is now playing out in full public view atop the highlands of Morris County in the tiny rustic borough of Mendham (population 4,973). First settled in the 1720s, the historic colonial town of Mendham provided support to George Washington and his troops during key New Jersey battles of the American Revolution.

Mendham residents are currently waging a different kind of fight—this time to stop the construction of a five-story, 75-unit apartment complex located in the center of town that is being pushed on the borough by state officials.

For the past 50 years, New Jersey has had a constitutional requirement that every municipality in the state must provide its “fair share” of affordable housing, as calculated by progressive bureaucrats in Trenton. Dubbed the Mount Laurel doctrine, these laws have been steadily ratcheted up over time, particularly over the past decade under the administration of former Governor Phil Murphy.

To pressure local officials into Mount Laurel compliance, the state resorts to strong-arm legal tactics, as highlighted by Mendham’s recent shake-down experience. For the Third Round of fair share calculations covering the period 1999 through 2025, Mendham’s unmet affordable housing need was set at 152 units, equivalent to 8% of the borough’s total household count of 1,802 as of 2024.

Armed with this, a private real estate developer then proposed an apartment building project with 75 rental units, 15 or 20% of which would be set aside for low- and moderate-income tenants. For Mendham, this was an offer that town government could not refuse.

Shockingly, New Jersey law allows private developers to bring so-called builder's remedy lawsuits against any town that blocks high-density housing projects that would help a municipality to satisfy its Mount Laurel obligation. Since the standard of proof is low for such cases, and successful plaintiffs would be entitled to court-ordered rezoning potentially covering more than just the property in question, few New Jersey towns are willing to take the open-ended risk.

To preserve its “immunity” from such “exclusionary zoning litigation,” Mendham was forced to sign legal settlements in 2019 with both the real estate company involved and the Fair Share Housing Center, the litigious state-affiliated housing advocacy group that has tag-teamed with the New Jersey Builders Association on more than 340 such agreements since 2015. As part of its consent decrees, Mendham agreed to change the town’s zoning laws to specifically make way for the controversial apartment complex.

While the project was formally approved by the local planning board in 2025, an alliance of town residents is still appealing that decision in New Jersey Superior Court, alleging that corners were cut regarding environmental regulations—the hilltop borough is located at the headwaters of three major river basins, and the proposed development backs up to wetlands—and other zoning ordinances as part of the quid pro quo agreements signed in 2019.

Originally intended to solve the real problem of racial discrimination in the real estate market, the Mount Laurel doctrine has since devolved into a means of spreading high-density housing throughout the suburbs, mainly through the court-protected 4-to-1 builder’s remedy multiplier. Judging by the number of protest yard signs popping up everywhere, these ubiquitous well-appointed Soviet housing blocks are hugely unpopular with town residents, not just in Mendham but across the Garden State.

For small towns, the large, transient populations that come with these outsized rental apartment buildings complicate resource planning and place a significant strain on public services, especially schools. In the Mendham example, the borough has only one grade and middle school, with total enrollment of roughly 500 students. An influx of 75 new families with just one child each could easily overwhelm the local school system.

For prospective renters, it is also no bargain given the degrees of physical separation from the local community. To date, many New Jersey towns have sited their fair share-forced housing projects either along railroad lines and highways or within commercial and industrial zones or simply on the edge of town. In Mendham’s case, the project is located behind a supermarket and strip mall, further hemmed in by a new car dealership and an existing lumber store—not exactly country living at its finest.

New Jersey municipalities have finally started to push back legally against the rigged Mount Laurel game. A coalition of 40 New Jersey towns (including Mendham) has now sued in state and federal court to challenge the 2024 New Jersey law governing the current Fourth Round of the program and the entire unfair fair share system itself.

Why are the state’s largest cities—including Newark, Paterson and Jersey City—exempt from building new affordable housing units under the Mount Laurel diktats? This pushes a greater fair share housing burden on smaller towns even though large cities account for the lion’s share of New Jersey’s renter, low-income and homeless populations.

Why do affordable housing requirements continue to inexorably rise even for New Jersey towns that are shrinking? Mendham’s population has declined slightly over the past 25 years, yet the borough must still come up with an incremental 124 low-income units over 2025-2035 under the Fourth Round of Mount Laurel—this on top of the 152 just solved for in Round #3. This guarantees more unsolicited builder remedies for Mendham to fend off going forward.

The current coercive and inequitable system where private real estate developers serve as legal enforcers and leverage arbitrary fair share mandates to run roughshod over local zoning and effectively urbanize suburban towns is not what New Jersey’s Supreme Court had in mind when it issued its foundational affordable housing ruling back in 1975. Half a century later, the Mount Laurel doctrine has become a social engineering experiment that is slowly destroying the quality of life and changing the local character of small towns across the Garden State. Just ask Mendham.

Paul H. Tice is a senior fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics, an adjunct professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business and author of the book, “The Race to Zero: How ESG Investing Will Crater the Global Financial System.”

https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2026/03/27/time_to_dismantle_new_jerseys_mount_laurel_real_estate_scam_1173212.html

K-Shaped Economy Bites Back: Retail CRE Transactions For Shops, Malls Plunge

 February U.S. commercial real estate transaction activity appeared soft on the surface, but Goldman analysts believe the weak initial print will likely be revised meaningfully higher. The most notable area of weakness in last month’s transaction data was across the retail space, which is not especially surprising as the K-shaped economy continues to pressure lower-income consumers.

Goldman real estate analyst Julien Blouin wrote Wednesday that the initial February reading on CRE transaction volumes showed a 13% year-over-year decline. He noted that transaction data from MSCI Real Assets is typically "revised materially higher" and said the early print is not a major cause for concern.

Blouin added that prior months were revised higher by roughly 24% to 25% on average, suggesting the final February reading will likely show transaction growth in the high single-digit territory once the data is finalized.

February Transaction Volumes

Volumes are muted and well below Covid surge. Need rates lower. 

Deal activity is improving in some areas, especially office and industrial. Multifamily faced a much tougher comparison versus the same period last year, so the decline looks a lot worse than the underlying trend. The sharpest drop in CRE transactions was in retail, which includes shops, strip malls, convenience stores, restaurants, and malls.

CRE bucket breakdown for February:

• Multifamily/apartments: down 24% year over year

• Office: up 9%

• Industrial: up 15%

• Retail: down 61%

Retail CRE volumes plunged 

Blouin did not get into the details of the slump in retail deal activity, but it does appear buyers may still be selective in retail, due in part to the K-shaped economy, which is pressuring lower-income consumers’ ability to go out and spend at restaurants and shops.

Related:

• AI Takeover Complete: Data Center Construction Surpasses Office Construction For The First Time

The takeaway is that the sharp drop in retail CRE transactions likely reflects buyer caution around consumer-exposed properties, given everything we know about the K-shaped economy.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/k-shaped-economy-revenge-retail-cre-transactions-shops-malls-plunge