Weekly News (August 4, 2021)

This week’s Interest Rate (31st Week)

(By Fairway Home Loan)  

   30 yr fx(%)  15 yr fx(%) FHA(%) 10 yr Tr Y (%)
A year ago      2.750       2.375     2.625          0.517
A month ago      2.875       2.125     2.490          1.485
Last week      2.699       2.225     2.375          1.246
This week      2.650       2.000     2.375          1.169

 

Prime Rate: 3.0% / Ref IR: 0.00- 0.25% 

 

  • Potential home buyer — Have a pre-approval first before the shop.  Now we have 48hour underwriting turn-around times for regular loans.
  • 2021 Conventional loan limit:  Conforming SFR : $548,250/ Conforming high balance: $882,375 / Confirming 2 Family: $702,000/ Confirming High Balance: $1,053,000

 

Amazon opens additional distribution centers in New Jersey

(Korea Daily  8/4)

  • Amazon announced on 8/2 that they added 3 distribution center warehouses in Carlstadt in Bergen County (460,000 sf), Lowrance township in Mercer County (340,000 sf), Edison in Middlesex County (290,000 sf).
  • They are hiring now and a portal site can be accessed : amazon.jobs
  • In new Jersey, Amazon invested $14.5B since 2010 and created 45,000 jobs. Through this employment, the indirect job creation effect is 30,000.

 

Biden orders new Evictions Moratorium

(WSJ / Korea Daily 8/4)

  • Nationwide moratorium for eviction has ended by 7/31/2021. The White house and CDC initiates prohibiting eviction for 60 days for those area where coronavirus infection soar.
  • While rent assistance program fund distribution is getting slow, Biden Admin aims to buy more time with this new order.
  • CDC said this new order will last through Oct 3rd, but it is subject to further extension, modification, or recession based on public health circumstances.

 

Rents Rise as Young Workers Return to Cities’ Apartment

(WSJ    8/4)

  • Apartment rents are rising fast, boosted by your professionals returning to cities and a pricey housing market that keep many of them renting. Median rent rose more than 10% over the past year $1,244, according to house-search website Apartment List. That figure is 9.4% above where rents stood in March 2020, right before Covid-19 lockdowns began.
  • One big factor behind the rent increase: Soaring housing prices are forcing many would-be buyers out of the for-sale market, and they have little choice but to pay up for rent. As of June, median existing-home sales prices are up 23.4% from a year earlier to $363,300 – record high, according to NAR report.
  • New York and San Francisco rents have begun to recover without having lure tenants with free rent or other incentives so often anymore.
  • Still, when it comes to realizing an increase in profits, it will take time for some landlords to raise rents on all of their tenants, as many renters are locked into discounted leases from the softest months of the pandemic.

 

Cuomo urged to quit after damaging report

(NTY   8/4)

  • Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, including current and former government workers, whose account of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments were corroborated in a damning report released on Tuesday by NY State attorney general, Letitia James.
  • Investigators said that Mr. Cuomo, a third term Democrat, and his aids fostered a toxic work culture that was rife with fear and intimidation, and helped enable “harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment.”
  • Biden also urges Mr. Cuomo to quit. If not, he might be impeached by State Assembly, he added.

 

Fed Aims for a Tantrum-Free Tapering

(WSJ   8/2)

  • Investors barely reacted last week when Federal Reserve officially signaled, they could announce plans to start reducing their bond buying later this year. That was a relief for policy makers eager to avoid a repeat of the market turmoil that erupted in 2013 when the Fed made a similar announcement.
  • The central banks have been buying $120B a month of Treasury and mortgage securities since June 2020, a pace officials say will continue until the economic recovery advances further. Some investors worry that yields will jump significantly higher when the Fed stops buying bonds. But research by economists has found that tapering need not provoke a tantrum.
  • Powell said Wed that the central bank was nowhere near considering plans to raise interest rates.
  • While the Fed sees low interest rates and bond purchases as two distinct tools, both are being used to achieve the same economic objective – encouraging more spending and investment through lower borrowing costs.

 

70% of U.S. Adults got at least 1 dose of vaccine shot

(Korea Times  8/3)

  • The White house announced that vaccination rate of at least one dose hit 70% on 8/2/2021 due to rapid spreading of coronavirus variant.
  • According to CDC report, in U.S.,180.96M over 18 year-old adults have received at least the 1st vaccine and 156.5M adults have received 2nd vaccine, which is 60.6% of the total adults.
  • Originally, Biden Admin had a goal of vaccination of 1st shot to reach 70% by the July 4th.

 

If not vaccinated, you cannot go into restaurants in NYC

(Korea Times/Daily  NYT  8/4 )

  • The Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that customers have to prove vaccination by presenting paper card by CDC, Covid-19 safe (app by NYC), and Excelsior Pass(app by NY State) when they go to restaurants, theaters, performance centers, etc from 8/16.
  • They will patrol and reinforce this rule from 9/13 when schools begin to open.
  • NYC will become the first U.S. city to require proof of vaccination for a variety of activities for workers and customers – a move intended to put pressure on people to get vaccinated, Mayor said on Tuesday.

 


 

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