Multifamily Stocks Up, S&P 500 Down
During the month of April, the MFSI increased by 94 points, or 4.5%. With this sizable increase, the MFSI is at its third highest reading of all time, and just 164 points off its all-time high, set four months ago. With this large rise, the MFSI is now almost 19% higher than it was just 12 months ago. During the past month, the S&P 500 with dividends declined by 1.6%, and is now a bit less than 6.5% higher than it was 12 months ago. Because the MFSI increased while the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested declined during the month of April, the performance gap--or percentage difference—between the two indexes widened from 110% to 113%, which is 7 percentage points below the high water mark set in December 2004. 

Despite the very strong 42.8% rise in the S&P 500 since early 2003, the MFSI has risen a staggering 52% during the same 26 months. In addition, the MFSI continues to dramatically outperform the S&P 500 over longer time periods including the past three, four, five and six years. Since December 1998, the MFSI has risen by 120% while the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested has gained only 3.4%. During the month of April, the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of the MFSI increased to 18.97, while the dividend yield, defined as the total cash dividend payments divided by the current stock price, eased slightly and now stands at 5.87%. The MFSI is an index of 26 publicly traded US-headquartered firms, including 22 REITs, principally involved in multifamily ownership and management.

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