MFSI Hits Its Highest Level Ever
During the month of March, the MFSI rose by 58 points — slightly more than 3%. With this rise, the MFSI is at its highest value ever recorded and is almost 28% higher than it was 12 months ago. During the same period of time, the S&P 500 with dividends fell by 1.5%, and is now slightly more than 35% higher than it was 12 months ago — a performance seven percentage points better than the MFSI. Because the MFSI rose while the S&P 500 with dividend reinvested declined during March, the percentage difference between the two indexes increased from 78 percent to 86 percent, a level last seen four months ago. Due to the consistently strong showing of the S&P 500 over the past year, the S&P has outperformed the MFSI over the past 12 months. However, the MFSI continues to dramatically outperform the S&P 500 over the past two, three, four and five year time time periods. Since December 1998, the MFSI has risen by 84% while the S&P 500 with dividends has fallen by about 1%.

During March, the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of the MFSI rose from 17.84 to 18.07, while the dividend yield, defined as the total cash dividend payments divided by the current stock price, fell from 6.24% to 6.02%. The MFSI is an index of 28 publicly traded US headquartered firms, including 23 REITs, principally involved in multifamily ownership and management.

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