REZ: A House Tour Of The iShares Residential REIT ETF

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• Among the most popular real estate “sub-sector” ETF, the iShares Residential Real Estate Capped ETF offers focused exposure to 44 of the largest rental landlords in the United States.
• “Renter Nation” has been very good to REZ investors. Residential REITs have outperformed the broader sector over nearly every recent measurement period.
• This run of outperformance is no coincidence. The effects of the historic underinvestment in new home construction continues to put upward pressure on rent growth and border housing inflation.
• The mounting housing shortage is amplified by a large demographic wave of young millennials hitting the housing market. Rent growth was impressive in 2018 despite record apartment supply growth.
• There are some idiosyncrasies that investors should be aware of. The ETF is quite “top-heavy” and invests in property types not typically associated with “residential”, including hospitals and medical office buildings.