Colony Capital Inc.

The week ending December 24, 2015, reaped positive results for all of the mortgage REITs. The VanEck Vectors ETF Trust (MORT) ended with returns of 6.1%.

In January 2015, home prices grew 0.3% month-over-month, up 5.1% year-over-year. Prices are now within 3.5% of their April 2007 peak.

The latest Existing Home Sales report shows available inventory at 4.7 months and a market that’s tilted heavily in favor of sellers.

Rising real estate prices can be positive for non-agency REITs. However, they can be negative for agency REITs.

Peers have outperformed Blackstone Mortgage based on PBV, but Blackstone is ahead of its peers based on PE. ETFs have outperformed Blackstone based on PE, but Blackstone is ahead based on price movement and PBV.

China’s stock exchange wreaked havoc on the global economy for the week ended January 8, 2016. The REITs market saw a severe downturn during the week.

Prices continue to climb In February 2016, the FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) reported that home prices grew 0.4% month-over-month and 5.6% year-over-year. Home prices have eclipsed their April 2007 peak and are hitting new highs. A tight real estate market is driving prices higher. The latest Existing Home Sales report shows available inventory at 4.5 […]

Blackstone Mortgage reported net income from loans and other investments of $87.0 million in 3Q15, an increase of 74.6%. Net income and EPS increased to $67.8 million and $0.72, respectively.

Annaly Capital reported core earnings of $0.29 per share in 2Q16. Wall Street analysts expected $0.29 per share—earnings were in line with the expectations.

In May 2016, the FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) reported that house prices rose by 0.2% month-over-month and 5.6% year-over-year.

Over the past year, the percentage of people who think home prices will increase grew from 43% to 49%. Month-over-month, this number was up 3%.

Annaly Capital ended 2Q16 at 5.3x leverage—flat with the first quarter. It’s still less than the 6.3x ratio it operated with before the taper tantrum.

Home prices in the Pacific and Mountain states have outperformed prices in the rest of the country over the past two years.

From March 2015 to March 2016, the Pacific states took the lead with home price appreciation of 9.5%, followed by the Mountain states with a gain of 8.5%.

Both Annaly Capital (NLY) and American Capital Agency (AGNC) went into 2016 carrying lower leverage than they have historically.

In January 2016, the FHFA reported that house prices grew 0.5% month-over-month. The prices rose by 6% year-over-year. They’re higher than the peak in April 2007.

In December 2015, the FHFA reported that house prices grew 0.4% month-over-month, rising by 5.2% year-over-year.

The unemployment rate ticked down 0.2% to 5.3% in June, or ~8.3 million people. The underemployment rate includes discouraged workers—people who want to work, but who have given up looking.

Changing unemployment is a double-edged sword for REITs. Some bear credit risk, and an improving economy is good news. Others bear interest-rate risk, and they’re vulnerable to a hawkish Fed.

The FHFA House Price Index breaks down home price appreciation by region and by state.

The FHFA House Price Index only looks at houses with mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.