Weekly News (August 17, 2022)

Mortgage Interest Rates Review (32nd Week)

(by Fairway Home Loan)

Golf & More store opened in Northvale, NJ: Northvale에 “골 프 앤 모어” 명품점 개점

(Korea Daily 8/16/2022)

• Golf & More at 156 Paris Ave, Northvale, NJ had a grand opening ceremony on 13th , inviting Bergen County Clerk John Hogan, Tenafly Mayor Mark Zinna, NJ Korean Association President Chang H Lee, etc.
• The store is an authorized dealer of ANEW, Korea’s hottest golf brand, and sells Lindeberg, Honma, OnOff, PRGR, MU Sports, XXIO golf wares.
• The 3000 sf stand-alone building was used to be florist shop.

Equity rich houses reduced in New Jersey: 뉴저지 ‘에퀴티 리치‘ 주택 비율 줄어

(Korea Daily   8/11/2022)

• ATTOM Data Solution recent report said that homes of which mortgage debts are less than 50% of home value are reduced – ‘Equity Rich’ in New Jersey.
• Equity Rich declined to 37.9% in 2nd Qt from 38.6% in 1st Qt in New Jersey, which is lower than average Equity Rich of 48.1% in 50 states.
• It is difficult to analyze the reason, but ATTOM said that 1) Cash-out through re-fi to cover high living cost, 2) take out equity loans to buy a retirement homes in Sunbelt area might be possible cause.

New Jersey is the 2nd Best for Quality of Life: 뉴저지가 삶의 질이 미국에서 2번째가는 주

(The Record 8/17/2022)

• New Jersey ranks as the 2nd best state to live behind Massachusetts, according to a new report released by personal finance site WalletHub. In its annual report 2022’s Best States to Live In, WalletHub factored of living with job opportunities, quality of education and safety.
• New Jersey was 48th in cost of living, just ahead of Hawaii and California. Mississippi ranked last overall in this year’s study.
• New Jersey boasts good schools, food quality and variety, four seasons and proximity to New York, Philly, beaches and mountains. North Jersey becomes a hot spot during the pandemic as people from the New York City area sought more space, said an agent at Coldwell Banker. It is not only Bergen and Hudson County that saw a boost, but counties farther west, such as Sussex.

Biden signs Climate, Health Care legislation: 미 대통령 이정표적인 기후,건강법안에 최종 서명

(The Record/NYT  8/17/2022)

• President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill into law on Tuesday, delivering what he has called the “final piece” of his pared-down domestic agenda, as he aims to boost his party’s standing with voters less than three months before the midterm elections.
• The legislation includes the most substantial federal investment in history to fight climate change – some $375B over the decade – and would cap prescription drug costs at $2000 out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients. It also would help an estimated 13M Americans pay for the health care insurance by extending subsidies provided during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Though the law is considerably smaller than initial ambitions, Biden and Democrats are hailing the legislation as a once-in-a-generation investment in addressing the long-term effects of climate change, as well as drought in the nation’s West.

Housing Starts declined in July: 7월 주택 시공이 하락세

(WSJ   8/17/2022)

• Construction of housing in the U.S. continued to slow as inflation and high mortgage rates made it more expensive to build and buy property. Housing starts fell 9.6% in July from the prior month to a seasonally rate of 1.45M, down from a revised 1.6M in June.
• Building permits declined 1.3% to 1.7M. The decline comes amid moves by the Fed to raise interest rates to fight inflation and cool the economy. Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, said the decline in housing construction makes sense because building and buying houses is tied to expectations for the economy and interest rates.
• NAR will release the latest sales figures for previously owned homes on Thursday. Economists surveyed by WSJ expect that sales declined 6.1% in July.

U.S. Housing Starts & Permits

Housing Prices Climbed in Second Quarter: 2분기 주택가격, 여전히 상승세

(WSJ    8/12/2022)

• Home prices continued to climb across nearly all the U.S. in the 2nd Qt, when buyer demand started to fade due to higher mortgage rates but still exceeded the housing market’s unusually low supply.
• The median sales price was higher in the quarter compared with a year ago for 184 of the 185 metro areas tracked, NAR said Thursday last week. The only metro area to post decline was Trenton, NJ, where median prices fell 0.7%, NAR said.
• Home prices have hit new highs in recent months as the inventory of homes for sale held below historical levels. The median single-family existing-home sales price rose 14.2% in the 2nd Qt from a year ago to $413,500, a record, according to NAR. Potential sellers have been reluctant to list their homes in the past two years because they didn’t want to then have to buy in the frenzied market.
• But price growth has started to slow in some markets, and housing economists widely expect national price growth to slow significantly by the end of the year.
• Worsening housing affordability is prompting more households to consider relocating. Redfin said 33.7% of shoppers in its platform searched primarily for homes outside their metro area in July, up from 32.6% in the 2nd Qt and up from about 26% before the pandemic.

WeWork Creator’s Startup Attracts Investor: 위웍 창시자, 새 부동산 관련 회사 설립에 투자가들 관심 집중

(WSJ 8/16/2022)

• Venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is investing in Flow, a real estate startup led by former WeWork executive and co-founder Adam Neumann. The firm is investing $350M in Flow, founded this year, at a valuation above $1B, said a person familiar matter, making one of the largest-ever investments for an early-stage startup.
• Flow would seek to address problems in the rental-housing market, which he described as the inability for renters to own equity in their homes and a lack of social bonding between neighbors.
• Co-founder Mr. Andreessen said that the residential real-estate world needs to address these changing dynamics – geographically dispersed workers, reduced in-person interaction and a shift in priorities among workers. Yet virtually no aspect of the modern housing market is ready for these changes. Flow is expected to launch its services in 2023, according to the Website, though it hasn’t disclosed details of the businesses.