Weekly News (February 18, 2025)

Mortgage Interest Rates Review

United Mortgage Nation  2/18/2025

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

Savannah Convention Center expansion completed

       사바나 컨벤션 센터 확장 완료, 시민에게 공개  

WSJ 2/16/24(Sun)

• The total of $276M was invested into the Savannah Convention Center and it is open to public.
• With this expansion project, the center doubled the size to 660K sf and now Savannah established the business infrastructure to compete with Nashville, TN and Tampa, FL.

• Kalvin Moore, head of vice presidents of the center announced that Savannah Convention Center’s capacity ranking leveled up from 170th to 70th in U.S.

 Frustrated Home Sellers Pull Listings

실망한  주택 판매자들, 리스팅을 거두어 들이기 시작    

WSJ     2/14/24(Fri)

• An uptick in December delistings is the latest sign of dysfunction in America’s housing market. Nearly 73,000 homes were pulled from sale after they failed to find a buyer in the final month of last year, data from real-estate analytics firm CoreLogic show.
• Delistings tend to spike in winter when fewer people are actively looking for a home. But the trend in December was unusually strong, representing almost 1 in 10 properties on the market, and a 64% increase from the same month of 2023.
• The rise in delistings also means there could be a shadow inventory of homes waiting to come onto the market as soon as volumes pick up. That may put prices under pressure, even if buyers come out this spring.

Housing Delistings, Monthly

WSJ  2/14/25

 Rents are Poised to Rise, Muddling Inflation Fight

렌트비, 올라갈 추세로 인플레이션과 전쟁에 혼돈을…    

WSJ     2/15/24(Sat)

• A surge in rents during the early years of the pandemic sparked a historic apartment construction boom in 2023 and 2024. That crush of new inventory, especially in hot Sunbelt markets like Austin, Texas, and Phoenix, led to oversupply and caused rents to fall in much of the country.
• But more people are renting longer as mortgage rates stay high and the costs of homeownership remain unaffordable for many Americans. Landlords say the new construction pipeline should be mostly drained by year-end, setting the stage for rents to rise nationwide later this year.
• “The relationship is going to very quickly flip from a renter-friendly environment to a landlord-friendly environment,” said Lee Everett, the head of research and strategy at multifamily giant Cortland.

U.S. new apartment deliveries

Hot Inflation Chills Rate Cuts

인플래이션 열기가 금리 하강에 악 영향   

   WSJ     2/13/25(Thu)

• Consumer prices rose briskly in January, extending a recent pattern of price increases at the start of the year that likely derails the prospect for Federal Reserve rate cuts anytime soon.
• The Labor Department said Wednesday that prices rose last month 0.5% from December on a seasonally adjusted basis. That was the largest monthly increase since August 2023 and well ahead of economists’ expectations for a milder increase of 0.3%.
• The gain pushed 12-month inflation to 3% in January. That marked a pickup from December, when prices rose 2.9%.
• Inflation was a key factor in the November election. Many voters were fed up with higher prices and thought that putting a new party in power would help. During his campaign, President Trump vowed that he would lower prices.

CPI in Jan, change from Dec

WSJ  2/13/25

Trump pushes Rate Cut again

트럼프, 금리인하 또 요구 – 다가올 관세와 밀접

Korea Times   2/13/25(Thu)

• Trump gives pressure to the Fed to cut rates : He posted that the rates must be cut and this will happen along with raising tariffs on one of social media platforms, Truesocial which he established, on 12th.
• Meanwhile, The Fed chair Powell mentioned that we don’t need the rate cut soon because U.S. economy shows strong growth and the inflation is still above 2% which is a long-time target.
• Trump criticized the Fed performed badly on banking regulations right after the FOMC announce the rate freeze on 29th.

Trump Looks Beyond Fed to Cut Borrowing Costs

트럼프, 기준금리 감소만 기다리지 않아

WSJ   2/18/24(Tue)

• To lower borrowing costs for Americans, the Trump administration says it is going to cut spending and increase energy production.
• Although President Trump continues urging the Fed to reduce short-term interest rates, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested recently that both he and Trump are focusing less on the central bank and more on bringing down the key rate set by financial markets: the yield on the 10-year Treasury note.
• The task isn’t easy. A benchmark for rates on everything from mortgages to corporate bonds, the 10-year yield shifts with market and economic forces. Yields on Treasurys fall when their prices rise, so any effort to lower them would either need to reduce government borrowing— thereby decreasing the supply of bonds—or make U.S. debt more appealing to investors.

Yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury note

WSJ  2/18/25

Open AI, Altman denounced Musk’s offer

Open AI 올트만, 머스크 인수 제안에 “흔들려는 계략”

Korea Times    2/12/25(Wed)

• CEO Altman of Open AI, Chat GPT developer, denounced Musk’s offer to purchase Open AI on 11th, and he said it doesn’t make sense at all.
• He mentioned that Open AI is not available to sell and the offer is Musk’s bad intention to shake up and confuse Open AI. Further he mentioned that Musk is definitely a competitor and hope he could develop the better product to compete, but he was involved with too much tactics, numerous law-suits, much strange rumors. Also, he mentioned that Musk’s life is unstable and feel pity on him, and Musk doesn’t look happy after all.