FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 05/29/23

2023-05-29 09:00:00 ET Summary U.S. equity markets hovered around nine-month highs this past week as surprisingly solid economic data and earnings reports offset pressures from hawkish central bank rhetoric and a debt ceiling stalemate. Posting its highest end-of-week close since ...

2023-05-29 08:35:00 ET Summary The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures changes in housing costs in ways that change slowly and arrive too late. A long data lag makes these overweighted housing inflation estimates misleading. If we look at “CPI less shelter,” the ...

2023-05-29 08:05:00 ET Summary A lot of investors appear to think that REITs will drop lower. They believe that their valuations aren't low enough. Do they have a point? We take a closer look and issue a warning to those REIT investors who are trying to time the market. ...

2023-05-24 16:10:00 ET Summary Housing starts and permits for April are running at a level of right around 1.4M units, down from around 1.8M last year. The level of starts and permits is not yet concerning, but the slowdown continues to be worrisome. For housing starts, the su...

2023-05-24 14:29:00 ET Summary The median new US home in April sold for $420,800, -15% lower than the peak last October. Historically, the average housing downturn has taken 4-6 years to bottom and has always led to the worst economic contractions. This housing downturn starte...

2023-05-24 10:00:00 ET Summary Despite lingering recession concerns, hotel REITs are pacing for a second-straight year of outperformance after punishing early-pandemic declines, buoyed by steady post-pandemic operating improvement and the long-awaited return of dividends. The fina...

2023-05-24 08:57:00 ET Summary The initial estimate of 683,000 new homes sold during April 2023 represents the highest level of this seasonally-adjusted annual rate recorded since March 2022. The average sale price of new homes sold in the U.S. declined to $501,000, with the time-...

2023-05-24 03:00:00 ET Summary The median price of new single-family houses sold in April fell to $420,800, down by 8.2% from a year ago, and down by 15% from the peak in October. Sales of new houses, in response to lower prices, mortgage-rate buydowns, and incentives, ticked up t...

2023-05-24 00:05:00 ET Summary It’s only May, but if I had to pick a chart of the year, it would be housing stocks. In fact, housing as a whole has been remarkably resilient this year. The NAHB Housing Market Index has been cut in half and existing home sales have cratered....

2023-05-21 09:00:00 ET Summary U.S. equity markets climbed to nine-month highs this week as investors weighed signs of progress on debt-ceiling negotiations and solid economic data against a continued drumbeat of hawkish Fed commentary. Snapping a two-week losing streak and climbi...