FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 09/01/22

Summary Traders expect the U.S. Fed to soften as Chairman Powell suggested they have reached a neutral rate with the last rate increase. Traders expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to softly pivot away from rate increases after reaching a “normal level.”. I believe t...

Summary Many measures of real estate activity have softened after a remarkable run, including pending and new home sales. Home prices remain high, with the latest data showing median home prices climbed approximately 11% vs. a year ago to a record $404,000. Given the growing d...

Summary Since Powell shocked the world with an unexpectedly hawkish speech last week, the market has been struggling to guess just how much worse a tighter Fed is going to be for the economy. As a first pass, the market has decided that it looks a bit scary: most risk assets are d...

Summary Today's market X-ray shows the returns for each index, asset class, sector, and so on, since the recent low point on June 16th. Of the global indices, US small caps are in the lead, followed by the NASDAQ. High beta stocks are the most preferred factors since June 16. ...

Summary The Homebuyer Affordability Fixed Mortgage Index from the National Association of Realtors has plunged to its lowest level since 1989. The supply of new homes is nearly as high as it was at its highest after the previous housing bubble popped. Removing the corporate de...

Summary After showing renewed signs of life following a solid earnings season, Mall REITs are again the worst-performing major property sector in 2022 as recession concerns have offset modestly-improving fundamentals. A microcosm of broader macroeconomic trends, mall sector dynami...

Summary The housing market is weird. Sales are slowing, and home builders are calling it a recession. US home prices grew at an unprecedented rate during the pandemic when the Fed's QE program aimed to bring mortgage spreads down. Homeowners are less leveraged than they were g...

Summary Sales of new single-family houses collapsed by 12.6% in July from the already beaten-down levels in June, and by nearly 30% from July last year, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000 houses. Inventory for sale in all stages of construction jumped to 464,000 house...

Summary June’s sales data was indeed revised slightly lower from 590,000 to 585,000. The median price of a new home rose on a monthly basis to $439,400, below April’s peak of $458,200. Sales have continued to fall, prices have now likely turned down, and inventor...

Summary New home sales fell, but the average price of a new home sold in the U.S. spiked much higher. Our revised estimate for June 2022 is $31.22 billion, a 0.8% reduction from our initial estimate, but against which, July 2022's estimated market cap represents an increase. N...