FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 03/01/23

Summary Today’s US data has been disappointing with housing, manufacturing, and construction data all hinting at challenging conditions. Unfortunately, given the lack of buyer interest in the residential property market, we expect construction activity to remain a drag on overall...

Summary Non-seasonally adjusted new home sales were indeed higher, jumping by 12,000 to 59,000 sales from December 2022's revised estimate. The partially complete time-shifted rolling twelve-month average of the U.S. new home market capitalization for January 2023 is $24.81 billion. ...

Summary Year-over-year growth in consumer debt payments since 2020 has outstripped growth in discretionary income by the most on record. Some $10 trillion of US private debt up for renewal in 2023 now faces interest costs 400 to 500 basis points higher than they have been paying. A ...

Summary Nearly 200 U.S. REITs have reported fourth-quarter earnings results over the past month, providing critical information on the state of the real estate industry in a period defined by post-pandemic uncertainty. Rising rate concerns overshadowed a surprisingly strong slate of rep...

Summary U.S. equity markets posted their worst week of the year as benchmark interest rates jumped to three-month highs on data showing a surprising reacceleration in inflation and economic activity in January. Declining for a third straight week - a skid that follows a stretch of four-...

Summary Stock market bears are fixated on the belief that inflation is not only "running hot" but also "accelerating." Natural gas prices have truly collapsed, falling by way more than ever before in a short span of time. It takes time for monetary policy - which is undoubtedly tigh...

Summary Apartment REITs were the second-worst-performing property sector in 2022 - barely outperforming the troubled office sector - despite delivering a record year of operating performance highlighted by 20% FFO growth. Following two years of historic rent growth, there is little doub...

Summary There was a glimmer of hope in the housing data from January. When housing moves a lot in one direction or the other, it has a disproportionate impact on aggregate growth. Housing is a big slow-moving beast and the basic math on affordability still looks very dreary to me. ...

Summary Market is still frozen, potential sellers sit on vacant properties, hoping this too shall pass. Cash Buyers, investors, second-home buyers pull back further. The median price of all types of homes fell for the seventh month in a row, to $359,900, down 13.2% from the peak in June...

Seasonal increases plus higher prices result in festive spending highs and big rise in cardholders missing one payment Clear evidence of the impact of inflation on household spending is revealed in FICO’s latest report of UK card trends, for December 2022. While retail sales volu...