FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 03/08/23

2023-03-08 01:49:00 ET Summary On Friday, residential real estate brokerage firm Redfin released new data on home prices, showing that prices fell 0.6 percent in February, year over year. Without the central bank propping up MBS demand in the secondary market, primary-market mortg...

2023-03-07 12:11:00 ET Summary In Europe, the UK, and Canada, most mortgages are floating rate or coming up for renewal over the next couple of years. The Bank of Canada saw the housing downturn underway when it paused its rate hiking cycle in December at 4.5%. As Treasury bon...

2023-03-07 11:49:00 ET Summary The relative affordability of the typical new home sold in the U.S. improved in January 2023. Looking forward, we already know mortgage rates averaged close to the same in February 2023 as they did in January. March 2023 however may present a ver...

2023-03-07 03:15:00 ET Summary We are approaching spring, when crude oil prices typically rise, so the “Big Energy Bet” is likely to continue to pay off in the upcoming months. Crude oil inventories in the U.S. are currently 9.7% higher than the 5-year average, so WT...

2023-03-05 09:00:00 ET Summary U.S. equity markets rebounded following their worst week of the year as investors parsed data showing surprising resilience in global economic activity this winter despite stiff interest rate headwinds. Snapping a three-week skid and notching its bes...

Summary After covering the Winners of REIT Earnings Season earlier this week, Part 2 of our Earnings Recap focuses on the worst-performing property sectors and common threads shared by these laggards. While there were upside standouts and impressive reports within these lagging property...

Summary COVID created an incredible disequilibrium in the housing market where house prices surged 40%+ and rents are only just playing catch-up. While rents have increased substantially in recent years, it is still far more desirable to rent in most places when compared to buying. ...

Summary With the Federal Reserve approaching the tail end of an aggressive interest rate hiking cycle, investors have been bracing for a hard landing. The stock market has stabilized and risen since last October (S&P +13.7%) but has also hit a temporary air pocket last month (-2.6%)...

Summary Applications for mortgages to purchase a home plunged every week since late January and now dropped to a new 28-year low. Homebuilders played a big role in the January-hype-and-hoopla show. Bankruptcy equities and collapsed post-SPAC and post-IPO stocks doubled or tripled in...

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...