Lenders are retracting to the volatile market.

If the loan request will be longer, I'll charge more in interest as I see that longer-term loan exposing me to more market volatility in the next 2 quarters, therefore increased risk. 

Should make sense that the areas that saw the fastest growth ie Bosie, PHX, Austin will see the most volatility and the most downward pressure. 

Cost + price + volatility.

REITs are certainly a route too, but than you are buying into the volatility of the stock market and are not efficiently diversifying your investments, should you already have a Beyond that, I would argue most that want to be passive (and can) but don't: it all comes down to returns vs time spent.  

High caps often come with volatility and making sure you have the proper team to lean on is so important!

This can help reduce risk and volatility by preventing overexposure to a single asset class. 1031 is only for investment property.

I agree with that, you still need to adjust it to make it work to your specific market and still, the biggest risk in real estate is overbought.So if you buy the wrong property you are still screwed .For me the data from Fed is consistent with price behavior in our particular market, it's more deterministic when the interest rate is stable, not when it's volatile, but if interest rate is easing and seasonality factor is in, there's huge advantage in term of reward/risk play.

Additionally, the rates on coastal properties are much more volatile than other areas of the country. 

Some of the sun belt markets, along with the coastal regions, rents can be very volatile.