- Alex Pettee, CFA
Real Estate Weekly Review: REITs Extend Rally To 6th Straight Week
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The REIT rally continued into its sixth consecutive week, pushing their YTD gains to an impressive 14%. Moderate growth and low inflation have been ideal conditions for real estate outperformance.
Not to be outdone, homebuilders and housing stocks delivered another stellar week. The 30-year mortgage rate dipped to the lowest level since February 2018.
Within the housing sector, the real estate technology and home furnishings sectors have been particularly strong in 2019. Redfin gave an upbeat outlook on housing markets on their earnings call.
Clashing with other data points showing a decent-to-strong holiday shopping season, December retail sales were disappointing, calling into question the accuracy of the data amid the shutdown.
Inflation data has moderated in recent months after peaking in mid-2018. Housing inflation (42% of CPI) remains the primary driver of total inflation, a result of a lingering supply shortage.
