Hurricane Inbound | Home Sales Jump | Fresh Records
Daily Recap
- U.S. equity markets finished mixed on Tuesday despite a strong slate of housing data this morning as investors look for a catalyst to drive equity markets through recent record highs.
- Following gains of 1.0% yesterday, the S&P 500 eclipsed new records today, finishing higher by 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 60 points following yesterday's 378 point-rally.
- Coming off gains of 0.7% yesterday, the Equity REIT ETF (VNQ) finished higher by 0.3% today with 11 of 18 property sectors finishing in positive territory. Mortgage REITs fell 0.6%.
- New Home Sales topped estimates in July, surging 13.9% from June and were higher by 36.3% from last year. The 901k seasonally-adjusted rate was the strongest sales rate since 2007.
- After a quiet few years of hurricane activity, the 2020 storm season is expected to be a big one. Hurricane Laura now threatens coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico.
Our Real Estate Daily Recap discusses the notable news and events in the real estate sector over the last trading day and highlights sector-by-sector performance. We publish this note every afternoon at HoyaCapital.com and occasionally on Seeking Alpha to cover significant news and events. Subscribe to our free mailing list to make sure you never miss the latest developments in the commercial and residential real estate sectors. You can also follow our real-time commentary on Twitter and LinkedIn.
U.S. equity markets finished mixed on Tuesday despite a strong slate of housing data this morning as investors look for a catalyst to drive equity markets through recent record highs. Following gains of 1.0% yesterday, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) finished higher by 0.4% and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) jumped 0.8% but the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined 60 points following yesterday's 378 point-rally. Coming off gains of 0.7% yesterday, the Equity REIT ETF (VNQ) finished higher by 0.3% today with 11 of 18 property sectors finishing in positive territory. The Mortgage REIT ETF (REM) finished lower by 0.6%, retreating from gains of nearly 3% yesterday.
Following yesterday's broad-based gains, today saw a return of the "stay-at-home" trade with relatively narrow leadership. 6 of the 11 GICS equity sectors finished higher on the day, led by the Communications (XLC), Healthcare (XLV), and Technology (XLK) sectors while the Energy (XLE) sector lagged as Hurricane Laura threatens coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico. The storm is expected to make landfall between the Texas/ Louisiana border on Thursday. Homebuilders and the broader Hoya Capital Housing Index finished modestly lower today despite another slate of strong housing data as the high-flying housing sector consolidates after a robust rally over the last quarter.
New Home Sales topped estimates in July, surging 13.9% from June and were higher by 36.3% from last year. The 901k seasonally-adjusted rate was the strongest sales rate since 2007. Last week, Existing Home Sales surged by 24.7% in July from last month and rose nearly 9% from last year, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors. This was the strongest monthly gain in the history of the survey and was the highest sales pace since December 2006. The supply of existing homes dipped 21% from last year, representing a 3.1-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 4.2-months last year, and the lowest in the survey's history.
