Multifamily Stock Index Rebounds to All-Time High
During July, the MFSI rose by 112 points, or 7.26% — the fourth highest percentage rise in the short history of the MFSI. With this very large increase, the MFSI has established a new all-time high of 1,660.50, a full 54 points higher than the previous high of 1,606 set in May 2002. It now stands 8.66% higher than it did 12 months ago.Since the end of June 2003, the S&P 500 with dividends rose 1.76%, and is now 10.64% higher than 12 months ago — a performance 2 percentage points better than the MFSI. Because the MFSI increased by 7.26% while the S&P 500 with dividends went up only one quarter as much, the percentage difference between the two indexes widened from 83% to 93%, a level surpassed on only four previous occassions.

Despite a strong showing by the S&P 500 over the past six months, the MFSI continues to outperform the S&P 500 over the past two-, three-, and four-year time periods. Since December 1998, the MFSI has risen by more than 66% while the S&P 500 with dividends has fallen by 19.5%.  During July, the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of the MFSI rose from 17.64 to 18.96, while the dividend yield, defined as the total cash dividend payments divided by the current stock price, fell from 7.27% to 6.71%  The MFSI is an index of 28 publicly traded US headquartered firms principally involved in multifamily ownership and management. [ return to top ]