Short interest across S&P 500 real estate stocks decrease in July

[Real estate Business Trends Graphs and charts]
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At July end, average short interest across S&P 500 real estate stocks decreased to 2.60% of the shares float from 2.65% at the end of June.

Short interest in a stock represents the number of shares sold short but not yet repurchased by the short seller. The metric is often expressed as a percentage of the shares outstanding.

Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:XLRE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLRE]) lost 0.70% in July, against the broader S&P 500 index's 2.28% gain.

The estimated weight of XLRE components in the S&P 500 index stood at 1.95% as of Friday, August 15.

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
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Short interest could be an indicator of pessimism

Hotel and Resort REITs stood out as the most shorted subsector in July. Average short interest across the property sector rose to 6.14% from 5.87% in June.

Office REITs took the second spot, with bets against the property sector falling to 5.99% from 6.56%.

Telecom Tower REITs emerged as the least shorted subsector. Short sellers lowered their bets against the property sector to 1.20% from 1.41%.

VICI Properties (VICI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/VICI]) saw a steep fall in short positions to 2.73% from 3.85%. Meanwhile, Weyerhaeuser (WY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WY]) logged a notable jump to 2.04% from 1.51%.

MOST SHORTED STOCKS

* Host Hotels & Resorts (HST [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HST]) - 6.06% vs. 5.87% last month
* BXP (BXP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BXP]) - 5.98% vs. 6.56% last month
* Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ARE]) - 3.86% vs. 4.40% last month
* CoStar Group (CSGP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CSGP]) - 3.79% vs. 3.90% last month
* Realty Income (O [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/O]) - 3.79% vs. 3.35% last month

LEAST SHORTED STOCKS

* Crown Castle (CCI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CCI]) - 1.08% vs. 1.33% last month
* American Tower (AMT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AMT]) - 1.17% vs. 1.39% last month
* Prologis (PLD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PLD]) - 1.21% vs. 1.16% last month
* CBRE Group (CBRE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CBRE]) - 1.35% vs. 1.34% last month
* Simon Property Group (SPG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPG]) - 1.41% vs. 1.43% last month

MORE ON REAL ESTATE

* XLRE: Outlining Its Key Components And Quantifying Its Role In A Portfolio [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4799972-xlre-outlining-key-components-and-quantifying-role-in-portfolio]
* XLRE: Downgrade To Sell, As 5-Year Rough Patch Continues [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4789721-xlre-downgrade-to-sell-5-year-rough-patch-continues]
* Mortgage rates down to lowest level since October [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4485558-mortgage-rates-down-to-lowest-level-since-october]
* Five REITs announce dividend hikes in July - report [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4483322-five-reits-announce-dividend-hikes-in-july---report]
* Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR® Fund ETF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLRE/ratings/quant-ratings]