Reopening Reversal? Another Rough Week For REITs

Updated: Sep 10, 2020

U.S. equity markets pulled back on a volatile week after several states and corporations announced plans to reverse progress on some parts of their reopening plans after coronavirus case counts reaccelerated.
Beneath the negative headlines, however, the same data also shows an encouraging decline in coronavirus mortality in the United States with deaths declining to the lowest daily level since March.
Adding to last week's declines of 2.1%, Equity REITs finished lower by another 4.8% with all 18 property sectors in negative territory while Mortgage REITs retreated by 2.8%.
Rising case counts and delayed reopenings threaten to derail the emerging economic recovery, but for now, the trend of stronger-than-expected economic data continued this week.
New Home Sales topped estimates in May, jumping 16.6% from April and were higher by 12.7% from last year as the housing sector remains the engine of the early post-lockdown economic recovery.