REITs and the S&P 500 gained ground while the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a loss Thursday, Feb. 2, as a teen apparel retailer filed for Chapter 11 protection.
The MSCI US REIT Index (RMZ) rose 1.13% to 1,143.92 and the SNL US REIT Equity Index gained 1.09% to end the day at 305.49. The DJIA ticked down 0.03% to 19,884.91, while the S&P 500 rose 0.06% to close at 2,280.85.
Wet Seal LLC filed its Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday, just days after it said it was shuttering all of its stores, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
AvalonBay Communities Inc. and Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. reported their latest financial results after market close Wednesday.
AvalonBay shares spiked 3.50% to $175.54 and Mid-America Apartment shares surged 4.14% to end the day at $97.66.
Behringer Harvard Opportunity REIT I's shareholders gave the go-ahead to the company's liquidation and dissolution plan at its reconvened annual shareholder meeting, according to a Thursday filing.
Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. said Thursday that its board increased the company's cash dividend 5.6% to 19 cents per common share for the first quarter.
Shares of Armada Hoffler went up 1.55% to close at $13.74.
In property news, InvenTrust Properties Corp. said Thursday that it acquired two adjacent retail centers in Pembroke Pines, Fla., for $163 million. Upon completion of ongoing expansion work, Paraiso Parc and Westfork Plaza will have an area of roughly 389,000 square feet.
Boston Properties Inc. President Douglas Linde said Apple Inc. is expanding the size of its iconic glass cube store on 5th Ave. in Manhattan, N.Y., to 77,000 square feet from 32,000 square feet, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.
Boston Properties shares lifted 0.93% to $130.47.
LaSalle Hotel Properties said Wednesday that it sold Hotel Deca in Seattle to an AJ Capital Partners affiliate for $55.0 million.
LaSalle Hotel shares declined 0.86%, closing at $29.83.
Blackstone Group LP and affiliate Equity Office intend to modernize the 43-year-old Willis Tower in downtown Chicago, with the private equity giant earmarking $500 million for the project, according to a Wednesday statement.
On the macro front, STR data showed that U.S. hotels logged positive performance for the week ended Jan. 28, with revenue per available room increasing 3.8% year over year to $69.35, and average daily rate growing 2.3% to end the week at $119.93. Occupancy grew 1.4% to 57.8%.
Earnings call coverage
Scant growth in San Francisco rents through 2017, AvalonBay execs say: An unpredictable technology sector makes the market difficult to forecast, COO Sean Breslin said in an earnings conference call.
Besides Houston, Sun Belt multifamily is strong, Mid-America execs say: The company's relatively optimist forecasts for most of its markets stand in contrast to recent comments from executives at REITs that own properties in large coastal cities.
CBL & Associates CEO on former Macy's space: 'It's pretty much a blank canvas': On an earnings call, the mall REIT's leadership outlined redevelopment avenues the company may take to backfill space vacated by Macy's.
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Data Dispatch: New York, San Francisco emerge as worst-performing multifamily markets: The coastal markets have enriched apartment investors in recent years. However, effective rents turned negative in the fourth quarter as large slugs of supply come online.
Data Dispatch: Global long-term rates holding onto postelection surge: Many long-term rates around the world continue to move higher, building on the sharp increases witnessed in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election.
Data Dispatch: January state of the US housing market: Data released over the last month indicated a generally healthy U.S. housing market, with home prices and housing starts on the rise and existing- and new-home sales slowing.
Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.