Weekly News (February 7, 2018)

1. A penthouse condo in Manhattan, NY sold at $60 Million → Highest price this year

432 Park Ave. between 56^th St and 57^th St: 2 units at 91th floor
Each unit listed at $40 Million (91A, 91B) → finally sold 2 unit together at $60,083,577
Together 8000 sf. Each unit includes 3 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bathrooms
Monthly maintenance fee: $32,119.00 / 1396 Feet
Last year December, 3 units together sold at $91.13 Million to the same buyer

2. Leonia Town, NJ got sued by an attorney in Edgewater, NJ

Jacqueline Rose filed law suit: Town’s prohibition of non-resident vehicle is illegal
Town blocked about 60 local roads from 12/22/2017 → Rose is complaining it is taking 5~20 minutes longer than normal
The mayor said that still it is initial phase and we will improve this measure
About 30 Korean people who own business in Leonia requested resolution at the monthly town meeting (Since this traffic control, their sale cut by 30~50%: 50% of customers come from other neighboring towns)

3. Two Bergen towns called NJ’s safest for 2018

According to National Council for Home Safety and Security, River Vale (#1), New Milford(#2), Hillsdale (#7) and Bergenfield (#9) out of 238 towns
Washington township in Morris County (#3), Clinton township in Hunterdon County (#4) and Bernard township in Summerset County (#5)
River Vale did not log a single violent crime latest year. They kept traditional approach to policing (20 officers : same as 25 years ago)

4. NYC, 65% are renters → Ranking: 4^th out of 100 big cities nationwide

According to Rentcafe.com, 65% renters in NYC (5,441,635) → 4.5% Up, compared to 2006
Home owners: 34.9% (2,919,054) → 7.5% Down, compared to 10 years ago
Highest renters rate is Newark (#1: 74.3%) and Jersey City (#2: 70.4%) nationwide
Jersey City renters went Up by 10.7%, compared to 10 years ago
Home owners rate: Newark (25.7%) and Jersey City (29.6%) → lowest in US

5. Rent Control law movement spreads nationwide

Demand for rent control is growing concern nationwide
According to Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, between 2000~2016, rent went up by 15% (to $980/M) ←→ Renters annual income changed from $38,000 to $37,000.
Increased by 2 digit % → San Francisco, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle
Renter group → Demands more rigid rent control law
Landlords group → Stronger rent control law prohibits new construction → Becomes worse situation

6. H & M (Hennes & Mauritz) has closed 170 retail stores

H & M: #2 Fashion brand in the world (Opened 1^st store in 1947 in Sweden)
According to CNBC, 4^th QT last year revenue reduced by 4% / Stock value dropped by 50%, compared to 2 years ago
H & M has grown continually from 2008 to 2015 as leading fashion brand name
Recently it is affected by on-line competition
4500 retail stores (148,000 employees) worldwide / online revenue is only 5.5%
2018, plan to open 390 stores and closed down 170 stores (Last year opened 479 and closed 91 stores)

7. Asian immigration might reduced by about 40% due to State of the Union address.

According CGD (Center for Global Development), African American will be affected / reduced by 63.9% / Hispanic by 58.2%
White immigration might be affected much less (34.6%)
Trump’s immigration Reform is targeting for less family-invitation and deleting lottery system for Permanent Resident-ship
Due to Merit Base Point system, low education level (Below High school) will be reduced by 71% / High education level (Under graduate and higher) will be affected by 17.6%
Low education job immigration → Reduced by 267,000 annually / High education job immigration → Increased by 38,000 annually
The reform will affect to region based immigration: Catholic immigrant will be reduced by 53.8% / Muslim immigrant will be reduced by 53.2%

8. US hits $566 Billion trade gap in 2017

Highest for a year since 2008, despite of Trump’s efforts to bring more balance
Trump has sought to re-arrange / negotiate with China and Mexico
Import: $2.9 Trillion / Export: $2.3 Trillion ($810 Billion deficit for trade of good, $244 Billion surplus for banking and education)
Americans spend more than they produce and imports fill the gap

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