Weekly News (July 11, 2018)

1. Edgewater rent is highest in Bergen county, NJ 

• Based on ACS data between 2012 – 2016 of town of which Renter ratio is over 60%. Edgewater Median Rent:$2174 (68.7%)→#1
• Hoboken: $2001 (61.9%)→#2 Palisades Park: $1401 (67.4%)→#5
• East Rutherford:$1386 (62.3%)→#6, Weehawken:$1382 (66.6%)→#7
• Hackensack:$1318 (64.7%).
• New Jersey median rent: $1213→#5 in US

2. Korean Massage worker died by car accident at the SoJo parking lot

• On 7/8, a car ran over Korean woman(60’) and finally died at the hospital.
• Valet parking driver at SoJo, Edgewater could not see her and ran over around 7:50pm
• Police did not release any further info

3. Manhattan RE Market cooling down…. 

• Acc to Elliman, Number of sales for condo/co-op reduced 16.6% in 2nd Qt,2018 from same period last year. (2629←3153)
• Especially new construction reduced to 352 form 556 ( 36.7% Down)
• Same period, price went down by 7.5% (Median sold price: $1.1M←$1.18) (New construction condo/Co-op median price down by 19.2% to $2.67M)
• Inventory increased by 10.7%→Highest in 8 years
• Manhattan market moves into adjustment period

4. New Condo will be built in LIC, Queens

• 23-14 44th Drive, LIC/ 67 stories (778 ft) / 802 units
• Developer: UCD Group acquire the lot at $143M from City Group/ Architect: Hill West
• Higher than nearby City Group Buliding(50 story / 658ft)→Whole Glass Building
• Will complete in 2021-2022→Pre-sale begins toward end of 2018 or early 2019
• Price range; $500K – $4M
• Many other development is active in LIC←Proximity to Manhattan, Relatively low rent, compare to Manhattan and Brooklyn

5. Trump ordered 25% tariff against Imported product from China

• As of 7/6, 1:00pm, Imposed tariff on 818 items ($34B) : Mechanical parts /Electronics /Semi-Conductors/ LED/ Airplane engines, etc. →Targeting “2025 Made In China” project
• In 2 weeks, Tariff on the remaining $16B will be on.→Total of $50B
• Also tariff on additional $500B worth items is prepared for China’s tariff retaliation
• Last year, Export to China: $$129B ←→ Import from China:$505.9B

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• China retaliated their tariff activation at 1:01PM for $34B worth of Soy bean, Corn, Pork, etc.→Targeting Farmers to affect November election
• Selective tariff: imported US car→25%, Other imported car: 25%→15% ( US made cars:40%→Targeting Trump’s supporting group)

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• As of 7/10, US announced plan for additional 10% on $200B worth products against China→Garment, TV parts, Refrigerator, Other high-tech products) – ( If passed from hearing, total $250B worth tariff against China→Targeting “2025 Made in China” project)

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• Importers will avoid Made in China products→Will affect retailers shelves
• Global financial market→US/China: Major force→Funds can go to more safe investment out of both stock market

6. Inflation in US will reach to 3% for next 3 years, acc to WSJ

• According to New York Fed Reserve, in March, inflation reached to 2% / In May, 2.3%
• According to US Labor Department, inflation keeps 1.87% till May
• Accordingly Fed Reserve might decide Interest Rate increase faster→Concerns: Negative effects on economy under strong job market and trade war
• Inflation due to outside factor is not healthy

7. Still Owning house is the American Dream

• According to Zillow, 94% of American still dream own house.
• House owning rate in 20 Big city, including NYC→2% ( Keep increasing since 2015)
• Preference: Single House: 82%, Condo/Co-op: 10%, Townhouse: 7%
• Most preferable location is suburban area of big city, near Highway

8. Owning house is best investment ??

• Brandeis Univ’s Institute on Asset and Social Policy announced a report on The roots of the widening racial Wealth gap: Explaining the AA-White Economic Divide)
• The study used 1700 AA/white, male/female, and spent for 25 years and took 4 years to amylase relevant data
• Existing concept: the gap from education, income, inheritance
• This report reveals the gap is coming from totally different side→who owns house early and maintains
• In 1991, AA assets: $5,781 / White:$90,851→ 2016, AA:$28,500 / White:$265,000) ( Gap : $85,070→$236,500 after 25 years) ( During this 25 years, AA’s income increased 3 times, more higher positionàPresident, income gap decreased by 40%)
• Biggest reason for this asset gap→housing owning time and duration
• With similar conditions, time for White owning house is 8 years faster than AA
• AA house owning rate: 44%, White house owning rate:73%
• Korean: bit over 50%. Asian: about 60%. Current US house