iShares Residential and Multisector Real Estate ETF

REZ

Market cap $901M

These ETF gainers of June may keep climbing in July as dovish Fed hopes, strong earnings and easing geopolitical risks support markets.

iShares Residential and Multisector Real Estate ETF faces headwinds from persistent inflation and home affordability challenges, potentially limiting near- to medium-term upside. REZ's portfolio is concentrated in healthcare, self-storage, and residential REITs, with healthcare REITs comprising nearly 50%, offering some defensive characteristics. Persistent inflation, stalled housing legislation, and possible Fed rate hikes could pressure REZ and real estate broadly, especially if affordability issues worsen.

According to the Census Bureau, new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 580,000 in May. This represents a 7.3% decline from April's rate of 626,000 and an 6.8% drop from the previous year.

The average short interest in US equity real estate investment trusts grew in May compared with the prior month. US equity REITs' average short interest rose 5 basis points from April to about 5.0% of shares outstanding in May, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis. Farmland REITs posted the largest month-over-month increase in average short interest in May, rising 89 basis points to 5.6% of shares outstanding.

REITs have refused to break in 2026 despite oil-driven inflation pressure, rising Treasury yields, and a Fed narrative that flipped from multiple rate cuts to potential hikes. The “Rates Up, REITs Down” regime has weakened, with REIT-rate correlations falling sharply as fundamentals, strategy, capital allocation, and valuation catalysts increasingly drive performance. M&A has helped break the rate-driven narrative, validating public-market discounts to NAV and proving that REITs can unlock value through consolidation, privatizations, and strategic alternatives.

Hoya Capital's David Auerbach talks solid REIT fundamentals despite elevated interest rates and macro volatility. Dividends rising and M&A activity intensifying, especially among small and mid-cap names.

US equity real estate investment trusts, excluding hotel-focused REITs, posted median year-over-year same-store net operating income growth of 2.6% in the first quarter. Same-store occupancy fell to a median of 93.9%, compared with 94.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 94.1% in the first quarter of 2025. Data center REITs outpaced all other subsectors tracked in Market Intelligence's analysis, achieving the highest year-over-year same-store NOI growth in the first quarter at a median of 9.5%.

According to the Census Bureau, new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 622,000 in April. This represents a 6.2% decline from March's rate of 663,000 and an 11.3% drop from the previous year.

The REIT sector roared back into positive territory after a very brutal March. REITs averaged a remarkable 8.9% April gain and now have a +6.31% year-to-date total return. Small-cap REITs (+11.35%) soared in April as large caps (+9.05%) and mid caps (+8.13%) also saw strong gains. Micro caps (+4.49%) were also in the black but badly lagged. 91.33% of REIT securities had a positive total return in April.

Surging oil prices and hotter inflation reports reignited rate-hike concerns, sending Treasury yields to one-year highs as the Iran conflict remained stalemated despite the highly anticipated Trump-Xi summit.