Multifamily Stocks Stay Strong
During September, the MFSI fell by almost five points, or one-quarter of one percentage point. With this tiny decline, the MFSI is at its second-highest value ever recorded and is now 20.8% higher than 12 months ago. Since the end of August 2003, the S&P 500 with dividends declined 1%, and is now 24.4% higher than 12 months ago -- a performance almost 4 percentage points better than the MFSI.

Because the MFSI declined by 0.25% while the S&P 500 with dividends fell by four times as much, the percentage difference between the two indexes widened from 97% to 99%, a level surpassed on only one previous occassion. 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 time periods.

Since December 1998, the MFSI has risen by more than 72% while the S&P 500 with dividends has fallen by 19%. During September, the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of the MFSI fell from 19.09 to 18.46, while the dividend yield, defined as the total cash dividend payments divided by the current stock price, rose from 6.50% to 6.61%  The MFSI is an index of 28 publicly traded US headquartered firms, including 23 REITs, principally involved in multifamily ownership and management. [ return to top ]