** Shares of real estate investment trusts ended the regular session Wed with losses as Treasury yields rose in the wake of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell comments that it is too soon to say whether the central bank will cut interest rates in September

** Shares of AvalonBay Communities AVB.N ended the session down 3.6%, while Mid-America Apartment Communities MAA.N was down 2.3% and $Vornado Realty Trust(VNO-N)$ VNO.N was down 2.7%

** AvalonBay, which reported results after the close, was down 0.6% in after-hours trading

** Higher borrowing costs are a negative for the real estate firms

** Mortgage demand weakened to its lowest level since May last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association

** Homebuilder sentiment in July is near 2-1/2 year low, according to the National Association of Homebuilders

** Single family housing starts hit an 11-month low in June, as building permits slumped

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch)

((caroline.valetkevitch@tr.com))