FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 08/01/22

We're approaching the halfway point of another newsworthy real estate earnings season with roughly 55 equity REITs representing 50% of the total market capitalization having reported results. Among the 43 REITs that have provided full-year Funds From Operations ("FFO") guidance, 30 RE...

U.S. equity markets ripped higher this past week after GDP data showing a second-straight quarter of contraction sent long-term benchmark interest rates plunging to their lowest levels since April. Delivering its first back-to-back weekly gains since March, the S&P 500 rallied 4.3...

Earlier this year, I identified EastGroup Properties as one of 12 REITs likely to outperform in 2022. That prediction hasn't panned out so far. I also predicted Industrial REITs would outperform the REIT average this year. That prediction isn't doing well either, but the year is only ...

Today’s GDP reading officially shows two quarters of negative GDP. A lot of this talk about recessions ignores the fact that housing is a big slow moving sector. The Fed appears to be pivoting towards a more dovish stance and that’s part of why stocks have been bounc...

Healthcare REITs - the weakest-performing property sector last year - have been among the top-performing REIT sectors in 2022, benefiting from their status as relatively defensive and recession-resistant REITs. The ebbing of the COVID pandemic has sparked a much-needed recovery in Sen...

After coming in higher than expected in May 2022, new home sales dropped in June 2022. Combined with lower sale prices, the change sent the market capitalization of the new home market in the U.S. falling in a gloomy portent for the U.S. economy. Political Calculations' initial es...

Why inflation may not be all bad for real estate? Is Canadian real estate facing a crash? Not likely. How a slower Canadian housing market may affect economic growth? Aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks have sent a significant chill across the real es...

Excessive pandemic stimulus has resulted in historically expensive global property prices. Despite differences between countries, the issue is widespread with the vast majority of nations now having expensive property markets. Prices are the most expensive in decades, including mo...

Sales of new single-family homes declined in June, falling 8.1 percent to 590,000 at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate from a 642,000 pace in May. Sales of new single-family homes were down in three of the country’s four regions in June. The total inventory of new single-fa...

In all fairness to the Atlanta Fed, some of last week’s statistical releases indicate an economic slowdown, but at a very slow pace, nothing like the rapid contraction that accompanied serious contractions in 2008-9 or 2020. Russia’s Gazprom last week notified major cust...