Weekly News (July 12, 2017)

1. Palisades Park, NJ issued more ticket for BYOB violation 

• BYOB allows between noon and midnight → Not realistic for business
• Police checks around 3:00am and issues tickets ($1000 first offense → doubles for 2^nd offense)
• Extension law was proposed, but it was not implemented by the influence of the late Michael Pollotta

2. New Luxury Condo will come to Korea town in Manhattan

• At the Corner of 5^th Ave and 32th St (316 5^th Ave)
• 40 stories/ 539 FT high/ 1^st ~ 3^rd FL →Retail space / from 8^th FL → Condo
• Amenity: Bicycle storage, Gyms, Library, etc.

3. ‘The Woo’ luxury Korean restaurant will come back in Manhattan SOHO 

• ‘WooRaeOk’ was closed since 2011
• Will open this Fall as The Woo at 206 Spring St (used to be Italian restaurant)
• 7500 SF / 1, 2 & 3 floor and basement / 250 seats
• ‘WooRaeOk’ opened in Midtown from 1974 → moved to SOHO in1999

4. Traffic Infrastructure will bring many of new buyers/renters in North New Jersey

• Governor Christie’s cardinal sin → Cancellation of ARC project (Access to the Region’s Core)1) ARC was an $8.7 Billion project: Gateway project’s predecessor → new tracks (x2) under the Hudson River and new station to the ailing Penn Station
  2) Pen Station repairs: The way we manage all of this will play a major role in whether you can sustain real estate values in and around New York City
  3) Port Authority Bus Terminal: Terminal expansion will ease the growing congestion (Creation of a new station could cost $10 Billion)
  4) Hudson-Bergen Light Rail expansion ($1 Billion): Most immediate Impact on real estate market – Existing H-B line increased housing values in Hudson Co → Staggering development in Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken, etc.
  5) PATH train expansion: The bistate commission authorized $57 Million in spending on extension of PATH train to Newark International Airport ($1.7 Billion)
  6) 7 line extension into Secaucus: can reduce significant long-term bus terminal demand → would accommodate daily

5. AMAZON will open a warehouse in Edison this winter

• Between Route 27 and Vineyard Rd  (Former Frigidaire factory) → 900,000 SF
• This site was vacant for last 10 years
• More than 1000 jobs will be created  (So far, more than 13,000 job in NJ)
• Also warehouse is planned in Logan(1 Million SF) and Cranberry (90,000 sf)
• AMAZON donated 300 e-books to libraries in Edison, Carteret, Woodbridge, Florence
• AMAZON announced new service to install smart home appliances → Competing ‘Geek Squad’ by BestBuy → BestBuy stock dropped 6.3% (Lost $1 Billion)

6. San Francisco is most difficult to buy a house in US

• According to NAR, To buy a house → Over $161,110 income → #1 in 27 big cities in US
• San Diego: #2, Over $111,666
• Los Angeles: #3, Over $98,542
• New York: #4, Over $95,729
• Pittsburg: Lowest, Over $31,508
• US in general (1 QT 2017), Need $52,969 income for medina house price: $232,100

7. US Economy is doing better than forecast

• 1 QT GDP → 4% Growth (Forecast 1.2%): 4 QT in 2016 → 2.1%
• 70% (Consumer spending / Export) of GDP → doing better.
• Consumer spending → 1% Growth (Forecast: 0.6%)
• Export → 7% Growth (Forecast: 5.8%)
• Federal Reserve Bank (Atlanta) forecasted 2.9% Growth for 2 QT

8. US Dollars becomes weakest in last 6 years

• First half in 2017, US $ value dropped 5.6%, according to WSJ → Biggest drop since 2011
• Right after election, US$ value soared → Now it becomes very weak
• Reasons: 1) US economy growth will be slower than Europe and other nations
  2) More investment to Euro $ / Canadian dollars (ECB and Canadian Central Bank announced they will reduce Quantitative Easing policy)
  3)Weak action for Trump’s infra-investment plan

9. Not any more ‘20% down’ requirement for buying homes

• According to NAR, Only 54% of buyers for last 5 years out down 20%
• For FHB, Over 70% paid less than 20% (Over 60% paid less than 6%)
• Still many buyers think they have to do down 20% → 13% of under 34 years old know about 5% down required
• Many banks changed their position (CEO of BOA announced 10% down program at CNBC interview recently)