Weekly News (May 30, 2018)

1. Korean population increased in Northern NJ

• Towns with denser Korean population increased Korean population continually since 2010
• Palisades Park: Estimated to 20,988 (0.8% Up compared to 2016, 7% Up from 2010)
• Fort Lee: Estimated to 37,907 (7.1% Up from 2010)
• Ridgefield: Estimated to 11,435 (3.7% from 2010)
• Leonia: Estimated to 9,262 (3.6% Up from 2010)
• Edgewater: Estimated to 12,368 (7.4% form 2010) → Highest increase rate
• Cresskill: Estimated to 8,935 (4.5% from 2010)
• Closter: Estimated to 8,766 (4.2% Up from 2010)
• New Jersey State: 2.4% increased in 2017 (2.4% Up from 2010)

2. Highest priced condo in NYC is in Manhattan, NY 

• According to City Realty 100, Highest price condo → 15 Central Park West: $6,045/SF
• 2^nd: 432 Park Ave: $5,542/SF
• 3^rd: 212 West 18^th St (Walker Tower): $5,050/SF
• 4^th: 80 Columbus Circle (Above Mandarin Oriental Hotel): $4,623/SF
• 5^th: One Central Park West (Trump International): $4,380/SF
• NYC luxury Condo Average price → $2,445/SF
• Price for 500 sf unit → $1.22 Million

3. March, 2018 Case-Shiller Index rose 6.5% from March last year  

• 4% rose from last month
• 20 Big City Index rose 0.5% from last month, 6.8% from year ago → Continuously increase since June, 2017 → March Index is highest increase since middle of 2014
• West area rose by highest rate: Seattle → 13% from last year / Las Vegas → 4% / San Francisco → 11.3%
• Reason: Strong demand with low inventory
• Number of sales listing dropped by 6.3% for last 12 months → Declined continuously for 3 years

4. House Representative passed the Revised Dodd-Frank Law 

• Dodd-Frank Law was initiated in 2010 after financial crises
• Passed by Favor (258) / No (159) (Congress passed by Favor (67) / No (31))
• It was one of Trump’s election pledges
• The revised law will be applied to all the banks except super banks in Wall Street
• The size of the bank asset under control changed from $50 Billion to $250 Billion
• Those banks out of control do not need stress test and action plan for bankruptcy

5. Immigrants increased sharply in Queens, NY 

• Foreigner population doubled since 1980 → Number of businesses increased by 22%
• Most diversified races populated in US / Korean is over a half
• Population: 2.4 Million → 25% increased from 1980 / Immigrants: 1.1 Million (47%)
  Immigrants labor force is over 50% / Self-employees is 69%
• Business: 52,100: 22% Up from 2009 (US Average: 17%) /  2/3 businesses are small
  Business with employees less than 5 / 84% of businesses are small business with less than 10 employees
  Retail business (7600) take 15%, Within Queens borough, Flushing has highest number of businesses (9000: 17%)
• Employment: Civilian sector job: 115,000 jobs (24%) are added between 2009 and 2017
  Total jobs are 567,800 ( Mainly: over 2/3 à Health, Leisure, Service, Retail)
• Income: Median Income → $62,200: Highest level since 2006 (NYC median income:$58,900. Poverty level is 13.6% → Lowest among 5 boroughs (Poverty level in Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck is 7.8% → Lowest in Queens borough / Poverty level in Elmhurst, South Corona is 22.3%)
• Residence: Highest number of single houses in Queens → About a half of entire city, NYC.  Median price of single house is 656,000 last year → 18% Up since financial crises (Sunnyside, Astoria prices increased the most) / Home owner rate: 44% (NYC home owner rate: 32%)
• Rent: More than a half are renters. Median rent: $1452 in 2016 (35.3% Up, compared to $1065 at 10 years ago)
• Construction Boom: Hot in LIC, Flushing. Permits increased by 49% between 2011- 2017. Construction jobs increased by 32% to 52,700.
• Tourism Boom → Jobs: 14,750 (Queens → 29% in NYC → Highest in NYC)

6. Apple + Volkswagen will make Driverless Shuttle Bus 

• After hard time with Exhaust Gas issue, Volkswagen tried new adventure
• The Model ‘T6 TransPorter’ is being designed for Apple own employees by Volkswagen
• Apple tried to negotiate with multiple car makers, but finally contracted with Volkswagen
• Apple failed to develop own driverless car with about 1000 team members → A few hundreds left the company
• Apple had Titan (T712) project (Driverless car) by themselves, but reduced to develop just software part of that project

7. Gloria Oh (Democratic Party) will challenge the Mayor election of Englewood Cliffs, NJ 

• She said it is time to have Asian Mayor finally and entered into formal preparation for next year Mayor election
• Asian (Korean, Indian, Chines, etc.) population in the town is about 50%
• If Dem wins and breaks 3:3 (Democratic Party : Republican Party) structure at November election, it becomes easier to win against the current Mayor, Mario Kranjac
• She is 1.5 Gen Korean Attorney and a Prosecutor at Bergen County Central Municipal Court