FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 12/24/22

Summary Dec. 23rd release of the November New Home Sales from the Census Bureau came in at 640K, up 5.8% month-over-month from a revised 605K in October. The median home price is now at $471K. The Census Bureau's mid-month population estimates show a 77% increase in the US populatio...

Summary Due to decades of easy monetary policy, the economy is now tightly linked to the growth in asset prices. Namely the stock market and the housing market. When the stock market and housing market falls, this has significant implications for employment, consumption, economic growth...

Summary Sales of new single-family homes rose again in November. November sales are still down 15.3% from a year ago and down 38.2% from the August 2020 post-recession peak. Components of the Housing Market Index were mixed in December. By Robert Hughes ...

First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund ( NYSEARCA: FRI ) - $0.2402 . 30-Day SEC Yield of 3.41% as of Nov. 30. Payable Dec 30; for shareholders of record Dec 27; ex-div Dec 23. For further details see: First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund declares quarterly distribution o...

Summary In all likelihood the next directional move in real estate will be a big, step-function move lower. According to Redfin, 60,000 purchase contracts were canceled in October. That’s the highest monthly number since Redfin began tracking the data in 2013. The Q4 new orde...

Summary Sales of all types of previously owned houses, condos, and co-ops plunged by 7.7% in November from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales of 4.09 million homes, nearly matching the lockdown low in May 2020. Year-over-year (seasonally adjusted) sales fell by 35%, t...

Summary Sales of existing homes sank another 7.7% in November to a 4.09 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. Mortgage rates have eased back recently. Housing is likely to continue to be under intense pressure. By Robert Hughes Sales of exi...

Summary Last week the Fed reiterated its intention to snuff out inflation with still more hikes. But beginning about 6-8 months ago, when (not coincidentally) the Fed started to raise interest rates, inflation started to decline. In the housing market it's beginning to look like int...

Summary The latest reading of 1.342M was down 11.2% from the October reading and is below the forecast of 1.485M. Single‐family authorizations in November were at a rate of 781,000; this is 7.1 percent below the revised October figure. Authorizations of units in buildings wit...

Summary Total housing starts fell to a 1.427 million annual rate in November from a 1.434 million pace in October, a 0.5% drop. Total permits are down 22.4% from the November 2021 level. Input costs are still a concern for builders though lumber prices have declined sharply from rec...