Weekly News (March 30, 2022)

Interest Rate (13th Week)

(By Fairway Home Loan )

 Prime Rate: 3.25% / Ref IR: 0.25- 0.50%

• 3% Down payment for 1st home buyer is available.
• 5% Down payment 2-4 units FHA program available
• 15% Down payment 2 families -conventional program available.
• Potential home buyer — Have a pre-approval first before the shop.  Now we have 48hour underwriting turn-around times for regular loans.
• Self employed borrower – Need to prepare 3 month business bank statements and the YTD Profit and Loss Statement. YTD income can’t decline more than 30% compared to last year.
• 2022 Conventional loan limit:

Conforming SFR : $647,200.00/ Conforming high balance: $970,800.00

Conforming 2 Family: $828,700/ Conforming High Balance: $1,243,050

NYC Permanent Outdoor restaurants policy blocked

( Korea Daily 3/28 )

• State supreme court in Manhattan approved the plaintiff on 3/25 for blocking the permanent outdoor policy that the city was pushing. The plaintiff were 22 NY residents who live in Greenwich village, Chelsea, Hells Kitchen, East Village, and Williamsburg, etc.
• The judge mentioned that the policy for permanent outdoor restaurants policy will have to be reviewed due to noise and traffic concerns affecting residents’ life.
• The Mayor wants to move forward for this law and NYC can appeal in 30 days against the court’s decision.

First Round of federal funding for “Gateway” in budget

( The Record  3/30 )

• The first installment of federal money, $100M for the Gateway program was recommended in the coming federal budget. This is the first time funding for the projects to build a new tunnel under the Hudson River and rebuild an old one has been specifically allocated in the federal budget, further indicating a shift in priorities under the Biden administration.
• Gateway is one of seven new rail and bus rapid transit projects that were recommended to receive first time funding through the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program for fiscal year 2023.
• The $100M for Gateway was originally allocated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed by Biden in November. Once the budget is approved, that first round of funding will be available to the Gateway partners – Amtrack, New Jersey, New York and POA of NJ and NY.
• The current proposal would have the federal government provide nearly $5.6B in CIG grants, about 44% of the total cost, with remaining balance covered by the project partners.

Home-Price Rise Escalated in January

(  WSJ  3/30 )

• Home-price growth accelerated in January as the supply of homes for sale fell to a new low.
• The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national Home Price Index rose 19.2% in the year that ends in January, compared with an 18.9% annual gain in prior month.
• The median existing-home price rose 15% in February from a year ago, NAR said to $357,300.
• Home prices continued rising – even in the middle of a snowy January – as buyers rushed to find a home in order to beat rising mortgage rates, said George Ratiu, senior economist and manager of economic research at Realtor.com.

Home Sales Decline as Supply Tightens

( WSJ  3/20 )

• Sales of previously owned homes declined in Feb as rising mortgage-interest rates and a shortage of homes for sale made it difficult for home buyers to compete.
• Existing-home sales fell 7.2% in Feb from the prior month to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 6.02M, said NAR. Also they said Feb sales fell 2.4% from a year ago.
• There were 870,000 home for sales the end of Feb, up 2.4% from Jan and down 15.5% from Feb 2021.
• The demand is the same as last year, but it seems like more, because there are less homes said Risa Corson, a real estate agent in Closter, NJ, and she said “They don’t really have choices now. It’s either, you buy this house, or you wait until another comes on”.
• Cash buyers increased to 25% for existing-homes in Feb, up from 22% a year earlier.

Home-price and Mortgage Rates both Up

(  Korea Times 3/29 )

• Mortgage rates become the emerging factor in the housing market. It might induce cooling down of housing market.
• According to Freddie Mac, 30 year fixed rate is 4.42% which is the highest since Jan 2019 and is up 0.26% from the last week and up 1.25% from a year ago.
• For $300,000 house with 80% loan amount, buyer needs to pay $1,205 which is up $179 compared with the end of last year, and $238 compared with the beginning of last year.
• NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said that mortgage payment in Feb rose 28% due to high home-price and mortgage rates which means the increase $200-$300 per month and it is added to other inflation factors.
• Also, he said the mortgage rates for the rest of the year might remain between 4.5% and 5%, and home sales might reduce about 7% this year.

Kyiv Offers Neutrality to Moscow

(  WSJ 3/30  )

• Ukraine and Russia said they made progress in talks to end the war, with Kyiv presenting its proposal for a neutral status and international security guarantees as Moscow continued deadly strikes across Ukraine despite promises to focus its campaign on the eastern Donbas region.
• Though the latest round of negotiations, opened by President of Turkey in Istanbul, made advanced toward drafting a peace treaty, violence continued unabated, with dozens of reported civilian casualties.
• In a sign of progress President Putin of Russia agreed to meet president Zelensky of Ukraine for the initiating of the treaty once the negotiations are completed, said Moscow’s chief negotiator. Also he said that, in a show of goodwill, Russia would limit its operations near Kyiv and the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, though that step didn’t amount to a cease-fire.

Others/Tech News:  Duluth, Suwanee GA visit (Stephen & Hannah Lee)

• Many retirees from NY and NJ, especially NY.
• Korean population is concentrated in Gwinnett County such as Duluth( I85 exit 104), Suwanee (I85 Exit 109), and Johns Creek, Alpharetta in Northern Fulton County, and further north along with I85
• Silver town business, operated by Korean owner, will be booming (Korean food, nursing station, etc.)

• Depending county, school(education) tax is exempted for 65 or 70 over, which means seniors pay only 10%-20% tax.

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