Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin emphasized the importance of upcoming economic data in guiding the central bank's decisions at its December meeting, noting the challenge of assessing inflation and unemployment without official statistics following a federal shutdown.

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The US trade deficit narrowed by 23.8% to $59.6 billion in August, according to the Commerce Department. Imports fell by 5.1% and exports edged upward. The trade gap contraction surpassed economists' expectations, but trade could still negatively affect economic growth for the third quarter.

New orders for US manufactured goods rose 1.4% in August, following a 1.3% decline during the prior month, according to the Commerce Department. Orders were up 3.3% from the prior year.

Foreign holdings of US Treasurys fell slightly in September, the first decline in six months, to $9.25 trillion. However, Japan increased its holdings to $1.19 trillion, the highest since August 2022. China's holdings dropped to $700.5 billion.

REITs posted a 17.3% year-over-year increase in funds from operations in the third quarter, and 62% reported higher net operating income, according to Nareit. "The strong operational results and well-managed balance sheets that are evident in this quarter's results reinforce our view that REITs are well-positioned to capitalize on accretive growth opportunities as they emerge in 2026," said Nareit's John Worth.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 6.37% last week, up from 6.34%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Meanwhile, total mortgage application volume was down 5.2%.

Multiple factors, including the stability of underlying timberland values, illustrate the long-term opportunities for timberland REITs. Michael Roxland of Truist Securities and Kurt Yinger of D.A. Davidson talk about fundamentals in the sector, the Rayonier-PotlatchDeltic merger and areas of growth in the short and medium term.

Multifamily properties posted total annual returns of 5.48% in the third quarter, according to a Newmark report. The West Coast and Sun Belt markets led the way, with San Jose and Houston among the top performers.