Weekly News (February 11, 2025)

Mortgage Interest Rates Review

United Mortgage Nation  2/11/2025

Federal Fund Rate: 4.25 -4.50%        Prime Rate: 7.25 – 7.50%

 The Top 10 Priciest Home Sales of 2024

 2024년에 제일 비싸게 팔린 집 10개   

WSJ     2/4/24(Tue)

• 2024 was one of slowest years for home sales since the 1990s. But it was a banner year for the ultrahigh end of the market, where buyers are so wealthy that interest rates or market fluctuations have little impact.
• Top 10 deals for 2024

1) Malibu : $210M/Listed :Off market/Buyer: Unknown/Seller: James Jannard

2) Palm Beach : $150M/Listed: $200M for fully renovated, $120M for

unrenovated/Buyer: Michael Dorrel/Seller: Todd Michael Glaser

3) Palm Beach: $148M/Listed:Off Market/Buyer:Daren Metropoulos/ Seller:

Pencer family

4) Manhattan: $135M/Listed: Unknown/Buyer:Vladislav Doronin/Seller: OKO

Group.

5) Manhattan: $117M/Listed:$175M/Buyer:unknown/ Seller:Extell Development

6) Los Angeles: $112M/Listed: $150M/Buyer: Unknown/Seller: George Ruan

7) Aspen: $108M/Listed:Off Market/Buyer:Steve Wynn & Thomas Peterffy/

Seller: Patricj Dovigi

8) Carpinteria, Cal: $96M/Listed: Off market/Buyer: Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de

Rossi /Seller: Robert Friedland

9) Malibu: $94M/ Listed: Off market/ Buyer: Laurance Powell Jobs/ Seller:

Unknown

10) Miami: $87M/Listed: Off market/ Buyer: Jeff Bezos/Seller: Javier and Andria Holtz

• Top 10 deals by numbers

1 sale over $200M.  7 sales over $100M.  3 sales in FL.  4 sales in Cal.

2 sales in NY.  1 sale in Aspen.  6 sales off market

Building A Better(Fireproof) House

보다 나은 집짖기 – 화재 방지

WSJ   2/11/25(Tue)

• As the dust and smoke settles, residents in the Los Angeles area, where more than 12,000 homes were destroyed in one of the most destructive fires in California’s history, will be faced with a decision: to rebuild or move on. The state has seen a surge in major wildfires, with 15 of the 20 most destructive blazes on record occurring within the past decade.
• The growth of densely populated neighborhoods with older homes constructed in proximity to unmanaged vegetation has compounded the climate risk. These effects are expected to worsen, according to experts, and Californians are searching for answers on how to protect their homes from future destruction.
• Officials estimate it will take just over 18 months to remove all debris left from the wildfires. On average, the rebuilding process can take two to three years.

Fireproof House Concept  

White House immigration Moves Chill Business
in Latino Neighborhoods 

    이민정책 실시로 라틴계 비지니스 현저히 축소

WSJ    1/29/25(Wed)

• The Trump administration’s promise of mass deportations and immigration raids is already having chilling effects on spending by immigrants. The effects are wide-ranging, from sluggish tamale sales on a Los Angeles sidewalk to canceled home purchases in the Virginia suburbs.
• Since President Trump took office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested an average of 822 migrants a day, according to the partial records that are available. ICE arrested roughly 310 people a day in the 2024 fiscal year.
• A sustained pullback in economic activity in Latino communities would have repercussions for local businesses and the broader economy. U.S. Latinos of any race accounted for roughly 13% of consumer spending in 2023, according to Labor Department data.

Hiring Slowed in January, But Still Strong

  1월, 고용 감소했지만, 여전히 강세  

WSJ   2/8/24(Sat)

• The U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4%, showing a job market that is cooling but still solid.
• The gain in jobs was a drop from November and December and was less than the 169,000 jobs economists had expected, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. However, the job market in November and December was stronger than previously thought, with the job counts revised upward by a combined 100,000 jobs, data released Friday by the Labor Department showed.
• The unemployment rate for January was below the 4.1% economists had expected.

Nonfarm payrolls/Unemployment Rate and hourly earnings

WSJ  2/8/25

Trump plans 25% Tariffs
on Steel, Aluminum

트럼프, 철강과 알루미늄에 25% 관세 예고  

   WSJ  1/10/25(Mon)

• President Trump said that he plans to impose 25% tariffs Monday on imports of steel and aluminum, part of the structural change to the country’s trade system he promised on the campaign trail.
• He also said he plans an announcement about reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday. “Very simple, they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said Sunday. Those will go into effect “almost immediately,” Trump said.
• Trump’s aides and allies warn that the European Union and South Korea also are in the firing line because of taxes, regulations and penalties imposed on U.S. tech companies such as Alphabet’s Google.
• HyunDai Steel(현대제철), POSCO, SeAH Group(세아제강) on Korea are planning to move their factory to U.S. (HyunDai Steel à Louisiana, SeAH group à Texas)

New York State Bans DeepSeek from its Device

 뉴욕 주, 딥시크 접속 차단 하다

WSJ   2/11/25(Tue)

• New York state banned the use of DeepSeek on government devices, citing concerns over data privacy and censorship in the generative artificial- intelligence app from China.
• DeepSeek, owned by Chinese hedge fundHigh-Flyer,shot to fame in January, with its low-cost AI models rivaling American ones using less –  advanced  Nvidia chips.
• DeepSeek also is causing security concerns among Western governments. Analysis from security experts suggests that it has hidden code that could enable information to be sent to sanctioned companies in China.
• State agencies began removing the app over the weekend at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s direction, said Colin Ahern, the state’s chief cyber officer.

Meta Platform begins Layoffs

       메타, 드디어 감원 조치 시작  

WSJ 2/11/24(Wed)

• Meta Platformsbegan a round of layoffs on Monday that will see the company cut 5% of staff, or roughly 3,700 workers.
• Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a memo last month that the layoffs would target low-performing employees. “I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster,” Zuckerberg said at the time.
• The company’s shares have surged by more than 15% in the past month, while a number of other big tech players including Microsoft and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, have lagged behind due to questions about continuing costs of artificial-intelligence investments.
• Meta plans $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year, mostly on AI.