FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 07/21/22

Although mortgage rates have stabilized a bit, they remain at some of the highest levels since 2008 and have been heading marginally higher in the past week. Given the slight rise in rates, demand for mortgages continues to predict further weakness in upcoming home sales data. Not...

Sales of existing homes sank another 5.4 percent in June, to a 5.12 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. For the single-family segment, inventory was up 9.8 percent for the month at 1.12 million and is 5.7 percent above the June 2021 level. The combination of record-high home ...

Wednesday's release of the June Existing-Home Sales showed that sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.12 million units from the previous month's 5.41 million. The median existing-home price for all housing types in June was $416,000, up 13.4% from June 2021 ($366,900), ...

We’re a couple of weeks into second-quarter earnings and all is well. The big inflation report for June is on the books, bad company news is flowing (mixed with good news), but stocks are holding up. Small caps may finally be getting their time in the spotlight. Yesterday, ...

The REIT sector has fallen in 5 of the first 6 months of 2022, including a -9.44% total return in June. Large cap (-7.01%) and micro cap (-9.27%) REITs outperformed, while mid caps (-9.66%) and small caps (-10.61%) suffered the heaviest losses in June. Only 10.0% of REIT securitie...

Two opposing forces appear to be dominating the market currently, with investors polarized between recession fears and bargain hunting following this year’s large equity selloff. Investors priced in most central bank tightening and seem more confident with the inflation outlook...

Total housing starts fell to a 1.559 million annual rate in June from a 1.591 million pace in May, a 2.0 percent drop. The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index, a measure of homebuilder sentiment, fell again in July, coming in at 55 versus 67 in June. ...

ETFs have many advantages but also some important drawbacks. I use ETFs for some sectors of the market, but not for REITs. I explain why and present a few individual REITs that I am buying. Over the long run, REITs have been some of the most rewarding investments, beatin...

Homebuilders have struggled for well over a year with supply and labor shortages and ridiculously spiking costs. In addition, this year, mortgage rates added to the woes. Confidence of builders of single-family houses, as depicted by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for July,...

The NAHB’s Housing Market Index measuring the confidence of US homebuilders experienced its second-largest decline on record behind the drop in April 2020. Homebuilder sentiment cratered 12 points month-over-month, sending the index to the lowest level since May 2020. Each ...