Weekly News (June 14, 2023)

Mortgage Interest Rates Review

(Fairway Home Loan  6/14/2023)

Federal Fund Rate: 4.75% -5.25%        Prime Rate: 8.00%-8.25%

Senior housing Apt got rumor: under-the-table deal:  포트리 505 노인 아파트 뒷돈 거래 파문

(Korea Times    6/14/23)

• A senior housing apartment at 505 North Ave, Fort Lee is highly demanding for those seniors in waiting list for many years.
• “Park” and “Wang” claimed that they handed over $10,000 to someone for fast move-in, but nothing happened. Another three people are asking help for the similar situations.
• Victims claimed that “Kim” and an apartment employee promoted falsely that tenants can move in within a year if they apply with $10,000. They could not be contacted recently.
• The owner of the apartment has been changed recently.

Korean and U.S. currency exchange rate easing: 환률 1,300원대 붕괴

(Korea Times  6/13/23)

• Korean Currency(Won) exchange rate lowered 50 Won to below 1,300 Won due to U.S. currency contraction policy. As of 12th, it went down to 1,288.3 Won.
• As the Fed will continue to keep the contraction policy, there is possibility that the exchange rates come down more in the future.
• Foreign students and Foreign employees become favorable to send money from Korea.   Also travelers from Korea become beneficial as well. And the property purchases as a foreigners from Korea would be attracted.

Rent exceeds Mortgage payment in some cities: 렌트 치솟아, 일부 도시 ‘구입’이 더 싸져

(Korea Times  6/12/23)

• According to Redfin’s research through 50 cities in U.S., mortgage payment usually is 25% higher than rent payment.
• But in some time such as Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Houston, rent exceeds the monthly mortgage payment.
• Mortgage payment is highest in San Francisco Bay area and median monthly payment is $11,049 and median rent is $4,176.
• In U.S. median monthly mortgage payment is $3,385 while median rent is $2,715.

Leverage is Swinging in Favor of Apartment Renters: 렌트비 상승이 멈추면서 임차인에게 유리

(WSJ  6/14/23)

• Apartment-rent growth is declining rapidly, shifting the rental market to the tenant’s favor for the first time in years.
• The average of six national rental-price measures from rental-listing and property data companies shows new-lease asking rents rose just under 2% over the 12 months ended in May.
• An annual decline would offer relief for millions of renters who have had to contend with rents that rose 25% nationally over less than two years.
• Overall, 48 of the 100 largest U.S. cities are posting negative rent growth for new leases, measured on an annual basis, according to Apartment List.

New-lease asking rents, change from a year earlier

Inflation Cut in Half in May from Peak Last Year

(WSJ   6/14/2023)

• The consumer-price index rose 4% last month from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, well below the recent peak of 9.1% last June and down from April’s 4.9% increase.
• Fed officials meeting Tuesday and Wednesday are debating whether to pause interest-rate increases after raising them aggressively from low levels to slow economic growth and tame inflation, which they would like to see at 2%. The Fed in May raised its benchmark interest rate to the current range between 5% and 5.25%, the highest level in 16 years.
• Rising housing, used-vehicle and food prices drove inflation last month, the Labor Department said. Gasoline prices declined 5.6% in May from April, and other energy prices also dropped.

Consumer-price index change from a year earlier

Fed Likely on Track to Pause Rate Increases:  잠시 금리 동결, 가능성 커졌다 

(WSJ   6/14/23)

• Federal Reserve officials’ concerns about stubbornly high inflation could lead them to signal that they are prepared to lift interest rates again this year even if they hold them steady Wednesday (FOMC meeting; 6/12-6/13).
• The Labor Department reported Tuesday that overall inflation slowed in May but underlying price pressures remained firm. The figures are likely to keep the Fed on track to forgo a rate rise this week following 10 consecutive increases.
• Policy makers are expected to hold rates steady at their meeting this week, but investors in interest-rate futures markets anticipate another increase is likely at the Fed’s subsequent gathering in July.

Nvidia Joins the $1T Market-Cap League:  Nvidia 시가 총액으로 $1T 팀에 합류 

(WSJ   6/14/23)

• Shares of the chip maker have risen roughly 181% this year, fueled by the boom in artificial intelligence that Chief Executive Jensen Huang recently said was ushering in “a new computing era.”
• Big tech companies and startups are spending billions of dollars on AI technology. Nvidia is a beneficiary of those investments because its semiconductors are seen as essential in building the largest, most powerful AI systems.
• The stock ended Tuesday at $410.22, rising 3.9% on the day and giving Nvidia a valuation of roughly $1.01 trillion.

Current market cap of U.DS. Companies that hit the trillion-dollar milestone