REIT Rally Fades | Mall Merger Dies | Hot Housing Data
- U.S. equity markets finished mostly lower in a volatile session on Wednesday as investors parsed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Powell, who committed to provide continued support to financial markets.
- Following a decline of 0.8% on Tuesday, the S&P 500 declined another 0.5% today while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 282 points following yesterday's 300 point-decline.
- Adding to yesterday's declines of 2.0%, the broad-based Equity REIT ETFs declined by another 3.0% with all 18 property sectors in negative territory while the Mortgage REIT ETF dipped another 4.3%.
- No deal: Simon Property plans to pull-out of its agreement to buy fellow Class A mall REIT owner Taubman Centers, alleging it breached covenants of their merger agreement amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- More strong housing data: the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning that mortgage applications to purchase a home rose for the 8th straight week and are now 13% higher from the same week last year.
