FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 11/08/22

Summary Mortgage rates have not been this high since before the housing crisis. And while the housing market is slowing, prices are still high. Demand for homes may be softening, but until there is more supply on the market, prices may hold up somewhat. By Allison ...

Summary The REIT sector achieved only its 3rd month in the black out of the first 10 months of 2022 with a +8.69% total return in October. Large cap REITs (+2.92%) averaged small gains, micro caps (+7.36%) and mid caps (+8.11%) had moderate gains and small caps (+12.85%) surged. ...

Summary U.S. equity markets slumped this week after the Federal Reserve approved another "jumbo" rate hike while lukewarm employment data pushed back the timeline for a potential "pivot" towards less-aggressive tightening. Retreating following its best week since November 2020, th...

Summary Recession is likely, but the unique characteristics of the previous pandemic-fueled recession wrung out many excesses. Inflation will come down, but not to the low levels experienced over the past few decades. Capital markets have re-priced assets in ways that create a...

Summary Pressured by the painfully slow “return to the office” with daily utilization rates still 50% below pre-pandemic norms, Office REITs are among the worst-performing property sectors this year. Office leasing activity and REIT earnings results have been surpris...

Summary The recent recession as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic caused a massive, but brief, jump in homeownership due to grossly reduced spending. The Census Bureau has been tracking the non-seasonally adjusted data since 1965. Their seasonally adjusted version only goes...

Summary After taking a breather last month, the affordability of the typical new home sold in the U.S. nose-dived in September 2022. At an initial estimate of 43.6% for September 2022's median household income, the cost of owning a typical new home has never been higher for a typi...

Summary The global economy has been hit by several headwinds, almost all of them leading back to higher inflation. Europe is likely already in recession, the U.S. will enter recession in Q2 2023, while China struggles to make recovery headway. Markets have faced up to the reality ...

Summary Halloween is a scary time, and the stock market has experienced a frightening 2022 as well. Given the horrific -19% decline in the stock market (S&P 500 index) this year, arguably much of the current and future dreadful news is already expected and discounted into toda...

Summary Canadian monthly home sales in September were -32% year-over-year and 12% below the pre-pandemic 10-year average for September. Many who bought properties during the 2020-2022 frenzy are now underwater in terms of resale value. On the upside, much lower shelter and tra...