Reopening Reversal? Another Rough Week For REITs

• 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.

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