MFSI Hits New All-Time High
The MFSI increased by a whopping 151 points, or 6.5%, during the month of June. With this large increase, the MFSI is at its highest reading of all time, shattering the old mark of 2,392 set just five short months ago. With this recent rise, the MFSI now finds itself almost 30% higher than it was just 12 months ago. During the past month, the S&P 500 with dividends also rose, but by just slightly more than one-tenth of 1%, and is now almost 6.5% higher than it was 12 months ago.

Source: NAHB Housing Policy Economics

Because the MFSI increased by so much more than the S&P 500 with dividends during June, the performance gap — or percentage difference — between the two indexes widened dramatically from 116% in May to 130% in June, which is eight percentage points higher than the previous high-water mark of 122%, set in December 2004. Despite the very strong 46% rise in the S&P 500 since its low, set in late 2002, the MFSI has risen a staggering 72% during the same 34 months.

In addition, the MFSI continues to dramatically outperform the S&P 500 over even longer time periods including the past three, four, five and six years. Since December 1998, the MFSI has risen by 146% while the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested has gained only 6.9%. During June, the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of the MFSI rose slightly to 18.54, while the dividend yield (defined as the total cash dividend payments divided by the current stock price), which moves in the opposite direction, fell and now stands at 5.35%.

The MFSI is an index of 27 publicly traded US headquartered firms, including 23 REITs, principally involved in multifamily ownership and management. [ return to top ]