Weekly News (October 18, 2023)

Mortgage Interest Rates Review

United Mortgage Nation  10/18/2023

Federal Fund Rate: 5.25% -5.50%        Prime Rate: 8.25%-8.50%

NYC initiated 2nd Phase of Willets Point redevelopment Project

뉴욕시, 윌레츠포인트 재개발 프로젝트 2단계 검토

Korea Daily  10/18/23

• EDC(Economic Development Corp) initiated the 2nd Phase of the Willets Point Redevelopment project which include NYCFC (NYC Football Club) building. The target completion would in 2027.
• The development project includes 2500 units of residentials and the feasibility study of 1st phase for 1100 units is finished and will start the groundbreaking toward the end of this year. But, one of major conditions is that CitiField should share the parking facilities.
• The 2nd phase includes the remaining 2400 units of residentials, a public school for 650 students, 45,000 sf of open space, industrial space, a hotel with 250 rooms, and NYCFC building, etc.

Californization Hits Texas Housing Market

캘리포니아현상이 텍사스 주택시장을 덮침

WSJ  10/12/23

• Texas has long had a reputation as an affordable place to live, in large part because homeownership stayed within reach for the middle class. Now the state is being walloped by the same forces that have made homes a lot less affordable in many cities previously known for reasonable prices: pandemic-era migration from California and other more expensive areas.
• California to Texas was the most popular interstate relocation route in the country in 2021, according to an analysis by storage-space search site StorageCafe using Census Bureau data. During that year, about 111,000 people—about 300 a day—moved from California to Texas.

• Texas gained 9,085,073 residents between 2000 and 2022, more than any other state, making it the fourth fastest-growing state in the U.S. Before the pandemic, people were moving to San Antonio from other Texas cities and other states. The latest data, for 2019 and 2020, shows the largest source of net migration to Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, was Southern California, followed by other Texas counties primarily along the border, and Hawaii, Illinois and Washington.

% of housing stock affordable to families earning median income

WSJ 10/12/23

Florida’s Insurance Costs Force Some to Exit

비싼 주택 보험으로 일부 플로리다에서 타주로

WSJ   10/18/23

• Molinari family left Chicago for a two-story stucco home in this city’s historic Flamingo Park neighborhood. The new rate for the year starting in September was around $121,000—more than seven times what the Molinaris said they paid last year, and more than 13 times what they paid when the family moved to Florida in 2019.
• While they found a better rate from another insurer, at about $33,000, the family this month listed the home for sale with an asking price of nearly $3.5 million.
• The Sinclairs bought a 1,000-square-foot New England- style cottage in the West Palm Beach neighborhood 18 years ago. When their renewal came in around $10,000 this year, up 40% from last year, they decided to drop their insurance and “go bare,” as the practice is known.

Developer Bets $1B on Cold Storage

WSJ   10/18/23

• Related, the well-known investor in office towers and apartment buildings, is wagering $1 billion on a niche real-estate sector often associated with frozen pizzas, steaks and yogurt.
• An affiliate of the New York-based firm is launching a business calledRealCold ,a network of cold storage distribution facilities that aims to benefit from the rise in online grocery shopping and America’s evolving eating habits.
• The cold storage sector has long been a specialized corner in the $20 trillion commercial real-estate industry. But it is gaining traction with big property investors like Related and others, who believe that changes in the supply chain and the growing number of consumers who want more local food and diverse brands will boost this business.

Prologis Signals Resilient Warehouse Demand

프로로지스, 웨어하우스 수요 여전히 꾸준한 편으로…

WSJ   10/18/23

• Prologis, the world’s largest logistics landlord, said industrial- property demand is holding up even as the economy shifts away from a focus on goods. Prologis officials said higher interest rates and international tensions are restricting expansion in the warehousing sector.
• The industrial-property landlord said it expects average occupancy for the year to be 97.25% to 97.5%, upwardly narrowed from a previous range of 97% to 97.5%.
• The industrial-property vacancy rate in the U.S. rose from a historic low of 2.9% in the second quarter of 2022 to 4.1% in this year’s second quarter, according to real-estate services firm Cushman & Wake-field. Leasing rates have also slowed but remain above pre-pandemic levels.

Home Sales Are Set to See Slowest Year since at least 2011

주택 판매, 2011 년 이후 최저가 될 것… 

WSJ  10/17/2023

• The highest mortgage rates in 23 years are dragging down home sales to their lowest levels since the subprime crisis period.
• Sales of previously owned homes in 2023 are expected to dwindle to a rate not seen since at least 2011, when the U.S. population was smaller and the country was recovering from one of the worst housing crises ever, according to many economist forecasts.
• Home builders, whose sales held up more strongly than expected in the first half of the year, are feeling a pullback. Builders have benefited from the shortage of existing homes on the market and their ability to offer incentives that can lower buyers’ mortgage rates.

Existing-home sales and median price

WSJ 10/17/23

Biden will support $1B for buying own homes

내 집장만 쉽게, $1B 정부 지원

Korea Times  10/18/23

• The Buying Own Home project, supported by HUD and FHA, is for buying primary home and also the project can allow the income for ADU as a lawful additional income for the mortgage qualification.
• The project includes supporting downpayment for the 1st home buyers for mid and low income classes.
• HUD will also update the 203K renovation project and increase it’s eligibility.
• The Federal Government is trying to help difficult potential home buyers after the pandemic.

KISS Group donated $500K to HanSang  Convention

‘키스그룹’ 한상대회에 50만불 쾌척

Korea Daily   10/18/23

• The 21st World Korean Business Convention(한상 대회) was held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California from 10/11(Wed) through 10/14(Sat), 2023.
• The KISS Group supported the Convention as a sponsor and donated $500K.
• The KISS marketing efforts expand to move in to Walmart, CVS, and Target, etc and is becoming a main stream in the beauty products lines in U.S.