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Weekly News (May 2, 2018)

1. Palisades Park Public High School Security Guard project might be halt

  • Town selected 9 guards by Henry Lou’s (Council member) personal contact, but no objective data to prove their fitness and qualification
  • Among 9 guards selected, Mayor Rotundo’s cousin and Henry Lou’s brother included
  • ‘Nepotism’ should not be allowed, according to Mr. Woo (Education Committee member)
  • Tow general Admin and Education Admin should be separated

2. Queens, NY, house price continues to be strong 

  • In February, price index is $516,693 → Up by 6.5% from last year ($484,611)
  • Up by 0.5%, compared to January ($491,244)
  • Brookline, NY ($753,211) is Up by 3% from last year ($731,379)
  • Manhattan, NY ($1,164,224) is Up by 1.6% from last year

3. Alpine, NJ, Property Tax is 3rd place in the State 

  • Average tax in Alpine: $21,933 → 3rd highest in NJ
  • 1st highest in NJ → Tavistock, Camden County: $31,415 (Population : 5 ← Reduced form 24 in 2000). Originally town was established for to play golf on Sunday in Tavistock country club
  • 2nd highest in NJ → Millburn, Essex Co: $23,733
  • Tenafly ($20,434: 4th), Demarest ($19,137: 9th) were included in top 10
  • NJ Average Tax: $8,690

4. Pending home sales index decreased in March 

  • According to NAR, March pending homes sales dropped by 0.4%
  • Reason: low inventory
  • 3.0% dropped, compared to last year → During last 3 months, it dropped continuously, compared to a year ago

5. Consumer expenditure increased by 0.4% in March 

  • In the beginning in 2018, PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditure) was not so good
  • January: 0.2% Up / February: 0.0%
  • Personal Income (After tax) is Up by 0.3% in March (Forecast was 0.4%)

6. 2 New Condos will be on West Side in Manhattan, NY

  • The XI (the Eleventh) between 17th St ~ 18th St on 11th Ave
  • Twine style : West Building: 36 stories / East Building: 26 stories
  • West Building → 149 Condo units / East Building → 87 Condo units & Hotel, ‘Six Senses’
  • Amenity: 4000 SF fitness center, 75 FT swimming pool, Wine testing place, etc.
  • Pre-sale starts in May / 1BR: $2.8 Million, 2BR: $3.9 Million, 3BR: $6.5 Million / 4BR : $9 Million / Penthouse: $25 Million
  • Completion date: 4th QT in 2019

7. Korean Foreign Student decreased to lowest level for 15 years

  • F Visa / M Visa Total 67,326 → First time under 70,000
  • 72,814 in 2016 → 5% Down
  • Highest point: 110,083 in 2008 (73,272 in 2004)
  • Order: China → India → Korea: Difference from top 2 countries becomes bigger
  • Korean student STEM field → Only 25%
  • New York: 10,080 / California: 14,226
  • Highest number of Foreign Students → New York University: 16,960 / North Western: 14,248 / Columbia: 12,785

8. Trend: Rich people Exit from New York and California 

  • Cause: Tax deduction limit to SALT $10,000
  • Conservative Economist Arthur Laffer forecasts 800,000 rich people will move out of New York and California for next 3 years
  • Also 500,000 people will move out of New Jersey, Connecticut, Minnesota because of high income tax
  • They forecast SALT of high income earner will be increased by 8.5% → 13% (Tax for higher than $10 Million income earner will increased by 50%)
  • Opposite opinion: Still rich people like New York, New Jersey, California → They will not change their life style that easily
  • High tax states attract more millionaires: 119,000 millionaires moved to New Jersey after 2010 / 305,000 millionaires moved to New York / 730,000 millionaires moved to California

9. Mortgage Interest rates move Up 

  • Freddie Mac announced the rates of 4.58% for 30 year-fixed → Up by 0.11% from last week
  • Highest rates since August, 2013
  • 15 year-fixed rates (Popular for Re-Fi) : 4.02% → 0.08% Up from last week
  • 5/1 ARM rates: 3.74% → 0.07% Up from last week

10. Oil Prices move Up to close to $70.00

  • WTI price moves Up to $68.50/barrel → becomes burden to US economy
  • In 2016, $26/barrel → Pain in oil industry
  • US economy can bear with current price → Does not hurt demand, recovery of oil industry → Helps US economy
  • Gasoline price and other petroleum related product price → Functions as tax
  • High oil prices → Consumer prices Up → Becomes pressure for Fed to move Up interests rates
  • Worry on high prices → Highest level of US 10 year treasury bond yield since 2014 / Lowering stock indexes
  • Reason to high oil prices: Consumed surplus of oil supply/ increased demand steadily (Current oil price is way below than $4/Gallon in 2008)

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Stephen Lee

He has been in Real Estate industry in about 20 years and has been Broker of Record for 9 years. His experience includes residential, commercial, and property management. Prior to involving with Real Estate business, he has been involved in the digital communication equipment industry utilizing his engineering background and education, including running own company. He has established C Land Realty in 2011 which has grown to staffing over 100 Real Estate agents and the annual transaction amount of over $110,000,000 today.

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