Weekly News (February 23, 2022)

Interest Rate (8th Week)

(By Fairway Home Loan )

  

   30 yr fx(%)  15 yr fx(%) FHA(%) 10 yr Tr Y (%)
A year ago      2.750       2.375     2.375          1.291
A month ago      3.750       2.875     3.375          1.841
Last week      3.999       3.250     3.875          2.033
This week      3.999       3.150     3.875          1.941

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

 

  • 3% Down payment for 1st home buyer is available.
  • 5% Down payment 2-4 units FHA program available
  • 15% Down payment 2 families -conventional program available.
  • Potential home buyer — Have a pre-approval first before the shop.  Now we have 48hour underwriting turn-around times for regular loans.
  • Self employed borrower – Need to prepare 3 month business bank statements and the YTD Profit and Loss Statement. YTD income can’t decline more than 30% compared to last year.
  • 2022 Conventional loan limit:

Conforming SFR : $647,200.00/ Conforming high balance: $970,800.00

Conforming 2 Family: $828,700/ Conforming High Balance: $1,243,050

 

New Jersey notify possible lead warning in drinking water

( Korea Daily 2/23 )

  • 180,000 NJ residents will be notified if they are under lead contamination in their drinking water, starting on 2/22. Those residents who are under the issue will receive the notification within this week.
  • The Governor Murphy signed the bill that old, contaminated water pipes will be replaced for the next 10 years.
  • Bergen County also include some area of concern of lead in drinking water.
  • nj.gov/dep/lead/map.html

 

 

After Surfside, FL, Mortgage Giants Want Safety Assurance

( WSJ  2/22 )

  • Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are asking questions about the safety and soundness of condos and co-op buildings after the Surfside, FL, tower collapse.
  • Following the June collapse that killed 98 people, the mortgage giants said they would stop buying loans connected to buildings with significant deferred maintenance or safety issues. They have provided lenders with new in-depth questionnaire – to be completed by condo management companies, associations or boards – about a building’s condition.  The problem is that the people responsible for filling out the form aren’t sure how to answer all the questions.
  • The confusion is slowing down loan approvals and could make it more difficult for condo and co-op buyers to get mortgages, reducing access to affordable homes.

The median sales price for previously owned condo and co-ops stood at $297,800 in January, below the median price of $357,100 for single-family homes, according to NAR.

  • Fannie and Freddie don’t make laws or set building codes. But they wield enormous power in the housing market because they help control the flow of financing to people looking to buy or refinance homes. They package up roughly half the country’s home loans into bonds and sell them to investors with their backing, ensuring buyers can get low mortgage rates.

 

Disney to Start Residential Business

( WSJ 2/17 )

  • Walt Disney Co said it plans to start developing residential communities, starting with one in Rancho Mirage, in California’s Coachella Valley. Disney’s research-and development team, known as Imagineers, will help design the communities.

The new residential-development business is called Story living by Disney.

  • Disney said the Rancho Mirage community is being developed in collaboration with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based DMB Development and will be called “Cotino”.
  • Cotino will include at least one section expressly for residents 55 years old and above, the company said. Home buyers will be able to choose from estates, single-family homes and condominiums.
  • Disney, for years already, has sold luxury vacation homes through its 980 ac gated Golden Oak community in FL.
  • In1990s, Disney developed a 5,000 ac residential community in FL known as Celebration, which was located near Walt Disney World in Orlando. Disney later divested most of its interest in Celebration.

 

Blackstone to Buy Preferred Apartment in $5.8B Deal

( WSJ  2/17 )

  • Blackstone Inc. agreed to buy rental apartment owner Preferred Apartment Communities Inc. in $5.8B deal that demonstrates the strong investor demand for multifamily properties in Sunbelt states.
  • Atlanta-based Preferred Apartment owns over 40 rental apartment properties with about 12,000 units in states including Georgia, Florida, N Carolina and Tennessee. Blackstone’s all cash purchase values the REIT at $25 a share, according to the companies.
  • Blackstone, one of the world’s largest commercial property owners, has been a big investor in rental apartments for years. The firm is purchasing Preferred Apartment through its largest fund, Blackstone REIT, which has raised more than $50B since it started 5 years ago and mostly targets individual investors.

 

Drive-Through Demand heats Up

( WSJ  2/23 )

  • Demand for the humble drive-through lane is booming, as coffee makers, chicken joints and other fast-food operators vie for limited supply.
  • Interest in drive-through real estate was growing even before Covid-19, but it exploded last year when total sales volume for restaurants, pharmacy and bank properties hit a record $12B, according to Costar. That represents a 43% increase from 2019 and a doubling in sales from 2012.
  • Dutch Bros Inc and Oregon-based company that sells coffee and energy drinks exemplifies the advantage of serving customers in their cars
  • Companies that were previously dine-in only have opened drive-throughs for the first time in recent years, including Shake Shack, which has opened three drive-through locations in the past three months.
  • Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc opened its first drove-through, which it calls Chipotlane, in 2018 and now 355 in operation across the U.S.
  • Checkers Drive-in Restaurants is also rolling out voice-activated systems that use AI to take customers’ orders.

 

Gas Price Soar: Pain at the Pump

(  Record  2/23 )

  • The bad news is that gasoline in New Jersey us up 21cents per gallon from a month ago and 85 cents from a year ago, to an average of $3.61 per gallon.
  • Russia’s provocations in Ukraine – and the beginning of U.S. sanctions Tuesday – have steadily driven up the price of oil, while normal seasonal production coasts are increasing prices at the refineries. That comes on top of months of increases as supplies failed to keep up with pent-up demand among pandemic-weary motorists.
  • On Tuesday, the price per barrel of Brent crude, the standard for international oils, rose about $4.50, or nearly 5%, to hit about $98.
  • The best way to save, according to Consumer report magazine, is to slow down. An experiment reports that dropping 55 mph from 65 mph increased fuel efficiency by 6 mpg in the Altima and 8 mpg in the RAV4.
  • FHA(federal Highway Administration) estimates that the typical American drives about 14,000 miles per year and consumes around 560 gallons of gas.

 

Home-Price Rise Hit record 18.8% in 2021

( WSJ 2/23 )

  • The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national Home Price Index. Which measures average home prices in major metropolitan areas across the nation, rose 18.8% in the 12 months that ended December, unchanged from the prior month.
  • The calendar-year increase was the highest since the index began in 1987. The Covid-19 pandemic kicked off a nationwide housing boom.  Households took advantage of record-low rates and south more space to work from home.  Home sales climbed up to a 15-year high in 2021.
  • Phoenix had the fastest home-price growth in the country for the 31st straight month, at 32.5%, counting its record streak in the top spot. Tampa, FL, posted the second-fastest growth, at 29.4%.

 

Stocks Hit Correction Territory as Putin’s Move Draws Sanctions from West

( WSJ 2/23 )

  • Escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine pushed stocks lower on Tuesday, adding to turmoil this year and leaving the S&P 500 more than 10 % below its January peak.
  • A drop that large is known on Wal Street as a “correction”. It is kind of a big, round number that shows clearly that the mood in markets has substantially shifted, and it doesn’t happen often – the last time was February 2020, when investors were in a panic over the emerging coronavirus pandemic.
  • The potential global economic ramification of the conflict in Ukraine have encouraged traders to seek the safety of Treasurys, which has pull down yields for the benchmark U.S. bonds. About a week ago, yields for 10-year Treasury note passed 2%, their highest since mid-2019. On Tuesday (2/22), the yield hovered around 1.94%.

 

This is News Brief & Mini Seminar in YOUTUBE

https://youtu.be/GKUeP_x8onM

https://youtu.be/veKD7rNCW24

 

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