NJ Finalizes $60.7 Billion Budget
Governor Murphy Signs FY 2026–2027 Budget Proposal Includes Expansion
of Property Tax Relief and Increased Investment in Education.
The state government plans to provide a total of over $4.1 billion in tax relief
through three property tax support programs:
ANCHOR: A support program for homeowners and renters.
Stay NJ: A property tax relief program for seniors aged 65 and older.
Senior Freeze: A program where the state government reimburses
senior and disabled homeowners for property tax increases.
Previously, the program provided up to half of the property tax (up to $6,500)
to seniors with an annual income of under $500,000. However, the system has
been revamped to narrow the eligibility to those with an annual income of
$200,000 or less, providing a tiered payout of $4,000 to $6,500 based on income level.
New York City Sees Apartment Building Boom
Apartment construction in the U.S. has been declining sharply for years and
fell to a 15-year low earlier this year. But in New York City, it is booming.
The city added 38,682 units to its housing stock last year— the most new
apartments completed in a single year for the city since 1965, according to the
Department of City Planning, when developers rushed to complete buildings
before a new zoning resolution.
The city’s residential push shows no sign of slowing down. New application
filings indicate a robust pipeline, with 16,815 new units across 281 buildings
proposed in this year’s first quarter, a recent Real Estate Board of New York
report shows.
Kenny Lee, a senior economist at StreetEasy, pointed to rezoning in
neighborhoods like Mott Haven in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s Gowanus district and
Long Island City in Queens. In these three neighborhoods alone, thousands of
new units have been added to the market, Lee said.
Movin’ In: Kids in 20s Are Living Back Home
Living at home as a 20something was once viewed as a failure to launch and
even a source of embarrassment. That’s no longer the case, as it is now often
viewed as a sign of financial prudence, and for some, a long-term prospect.
Chronically high living costs are helping reshape the milestones of early
adulthood in America. The national median home price hovers above $400,000.
Rents are at record highs in cities across the U.S., and many recent college graduates are saddled with
tens of thousands of dollars in student debt.
Last year, 49% of adults under age 30 said they lived with a parent, up 12
percentage points from 2019, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest
Survey of Household Economics and Decision making. Nearly a third of those
adults were 25 or older. Still, young people say that living at home in 2026
doesn’t carry the stigma it once did.
“Surge in Illegal Immigration Drives Up Home Prices and Rent”
An analysis has emerged showing that the surge in illegal immigration during
the former Joe Biden administration had a significant impact on rising housing
prices and rent nationwide.
Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas analyzed the impact of the
surge in illegal immigration nationwide from early 2021 to early 2024 on local
labor markets and housing markets in a recently published research report.
The research team estimated that when undocumented workers increased
by an amount equal to 1% of the local workforce, home prices rose by an
average of 2.2% and rent increased by 1.4%. The team estimated that the
surge in illegal immigration from 2021 to 2024 accounted for approximately
30% of the total increase in home prices and about 20% of the rent
increase. This does not mean that illegal immigration is the sole cause of the
recent rise in housing costs, but rather that it had a significant impact in areas
where housing supply is limited – called demand shock.
M7 Market Cap Vaporizes by $2.3 Trillion
Stock Prices Plunge Amid AI Investment Skepticism; Semiconductor Concentration Shakes Big Tech.
The status of the “Magnificent 7 (M7)”, which had been leading the rally in
the New York stock market by driving the Artificial Intelligence (AI) craze, is now shaking.
On the 29th of last month, the Financial Times (FT) reported that as the
“concentration phenomenon” in the semiconductor market persists, the market
capitalization of the M7—which once dominated the market—vaporized by $2.3 trillion this month alone.
The M7 is a group that clusters Nvidia, Alphabet (Google), Apple, Microsoft
(MS), Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Tesla.
Moving into this month, M7 stock prices fell by an average of about 10%. If this trend continues,
it is predicted to record the largest monthly decline in about a year.
Companies Work On Robots Safe for Humans
Humanoid robots marched through Chicago’s convention center recently,
delivering snacks, shaking hands and busting out dance moves.
Makers of humanoids, which have humanlike attributes to perform jobs a
person might do, say they’re unaware of anyone who has been seriously hurt
or killed by one of the robots. But the machines are getting bigger and
heavier, approaching 200 pounds in some cases. At that size, people in the
industry worry about the damage that could ensue if a bipedal robot loses power.
The possible consequences of a humanoid robot losing stability have led an
expert panel at the International Organization for Standardization, which
creates safety guidelines, to examine the subject. It expects to publish a standard by mid-2028.
Samsung Projects Huge Rise In Profit
Samsung Electronics projected a 19-fold surge in second- quarter operating
profit, signaling that its record earnings streak is set to continue amid the
artificial-intelligence boom and red-hot demand for chips to power AI
infrastructure and applications.
The South Korean technology company said in a preliminary earnings report
Tuesday that its operating profit likely reached a record of about 89.4 trillion
won, equivalent to $58.47 billion, for the three months ended in June.
That would be a 56% jump from the previous quarter’s record.
Citigroup analyst Peter Lee said, “We believe memory fundamentals are intact,
and server DRAM pricing has been outperforming on strong CPU
demand,” Lee said, raising his 2026 operating profit forecast for Samsung to 401 trillion won from 334 trillion won.
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