Weekly News (August 31, 2022)

Mortgage Interest Rates Review (34th Week)

by Fairway Home Loan 08/31/2022

Penn Station Re-development is risky: 펜스테이션 재개발 계획은 큰 도박수

(Korea Daily  8/30/2022)

• NYT reported that the Penn Station re-development plan ($22B) is risky business amid many corporations reduce their NY office presence.
• The project got an approval from PACB (Public Authority Control Board) in July and includes expansion of Penn Station, 10 more high-rise mixed use buildings around the station.
• NYT pointed out that near by Hudson Yard is suffering with vacancy for last 3 years. The office vacancy rate in Hudson Yard is 37% while average vacancy rate in Manhattan is 19%.

Small Investors Snap Up Out-of-Town Properties:  온라인으로 구매 ‘노트북 집주인’ 투자  인기

(WSJ    8/29/2022)

• Data services help small investors by On-Line real estate purchase and collect rent remotely. ( It provides sales prices, crime rates, local schools with precision).
• Roofstock and Appreciate connect them with financing or local managers who can handle property maintenance and leasing.
• Home purchase by Investors climb to record level during the Pandemic, reaching to 28% in Feb, 2022, up from 17% in 2019.
• Out-of-state small investors, purchased between 2 and 10 homes a year, bought 2.1% of all American homes sold in the 2nd Q in 2022, up from 1.5% in 2019.

Growth in Home Prices Eased in June: 주택가 상승세 꺽기기 시작

(WSJ  8/31/2022)

• Case-Shiller Home Price Index said home prices in major metropolitan areas rose 18% in June, down from a 19.9% in May.
• The housing market has cooled in recent months, and existing-home sales have fallen for six straight months.
• The median existing-home price rose 10.8% in July from a year earlier to $403,800, according to NAR.

Zillow stocks fell : More pain is coming: 떨어지는 질로(Zillow) 주식, 더한 어려움이 올지도  

(WSJ    8/30/2022)

• Zillow lost 2/3 of its value over last 12 months to a market capitalization of barely $8B amid virtually every adult is surfing its site.
• Zillow said housing market is going through a “rebalancing”. In July, sales of new single-family homes fell nearly 30% on an annual basis and nearly 13% versus June.
• About 234M people surf Zillow’s apps and sites monthly, 90% of U.S. adults, but Zillow monetizes only 3% of U.S. real-estate transactions.
• After their iBuying division’s failure, Zillow partnerships with Opendoor, automated home-flipping market leader for the referral fee.

U.S. 2Q Economy Growth, -0.6%

(Korea Times 8/26/2022)

• D.O.C announced it adjusted U.S. 2Q GDP growth to -0.6% upwardly. (Forecast was -0.9%)
• U.S experienced two consecutive months with minus growth (1Q GDP: -1.6%) which counted as a recession technically.
• Official decision of recession is done by NBER(National Bureau of Economic Research)
• Biden Admin and the Fed are denying a recession – mainly for strong job market.

Job Vacancies rose in July in U.S.: 7 월, 미국 고용 시장 증가     

(The Record     8/31/2022)

• The number of open jobs in U.S. rose in July after three months of declines à Sings that employers still urgently seeking workers despite a weakening economy and high inflation.
• 11.2M open jobs available on the last day of July – nearly two jobs , on average, for every unemployed person – up from 11M in June.
• The Fed has made very little progress in terms of narrowing the gap between labor supply and demand.

“HANKOOK Tire” plans expansion in Tennessee, U.S.: 한국 타이어, 테네시 공장 증설 계획 발표  

(Korea Daily 8/31/2022)

• HANKOOK Tire in Rockville, Tennessee has capacity of producing 5.5M tires a year, which is 8th global factory facilities.
• After expanding 2nd Phase (passenger cars, light trucks) and 3rd Phase(Truck, Bus), their capacity will rise to 12M tires a year.
• The company will invest a total of $1.575B till 2026 in U.S.