Independence Realty Trust, Inc.

Good morning. Thank you for attending today's Independence Realty Trust second quarter 2022 earnings call. My name is Frances and I'll be your moderator today. All lines will be muted during the presentation portion of the call with an opportunity for questions and answers at the end. If you'd like to ask a question, press star one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to pass the conference over to our host, Lauren Torres.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to review Independence Realty Trust second quarter 2022 financial results. On the call with me today are Scott Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer, Ella Nalen, Chief Operating Officer, Farrell Ender, President of IRT, and Jim Sebra, Chief Financial Officer. Today's call is being webcast on our website at irtliving.com. There will be a replay of the call available via webcast on our investor relations website and telephonically beginning at approximately 12 p.m. Eastern time today. Before I turn the call over to Scott, I'd like to remind everyone that there may be forward-looking statements made on this call. These forward-looking statements reflect IRT's current views with respect to future events, financial performance, and the merger with Steadfast Apartment REIT which will be referenced herein as DAR. Actual results could differ substantially and materially from what IRT has projected. Such statements are made in good faith pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please refer to IRT's press release, supplemental information, and filings with the SEC for factors that could affect the accuracy of our expectations or cause our future results to differ materially from those expectations. Participants may discuss non-GAAP financial measures during this call. A copy of IRT's earnings press release and supplemental information containing financial information, other statistical information, and a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most direct comparable GAAP financial measure is attached to IRT's current report on the Form 8K available at IRT's website under Investor Relations. IRT's other SEC filings are also available through this link. IRT does not undertake to update forward-looking statements on this call or with respect to matters described herein, except as may be required by law. With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Scott Schaefer.

Thank you, Lauren, and thank you all for joining us today. As I think back over the past year, there have been numerous developments which have impacted IRT. At this time last year, we announced our plans to merge with Steadfast Apartment REIT, and in December of 2021, we closed on that transaction. We then spent the first few months of this year integrating the operations of both companies while locking in $31 million of annual synergies. We are pleased to note that IRT is now one of the top apartment owners in the United States. Our larger portfolio of middle market communities and non-gateway cities is well positioned to realize outsized growth due to favorable market fundamentals, including the supply, demand, and balance for rental housing. Regarding the second quarter, we delivered a 14.4% combined same-store NOI growth and 30% core FFO per share growth on a year-over-year basis. We attribute this strength to our ability to maintain high occupancy rates, 95.5% at the end of quarter two, while achieving double-digit average rental rate growth of 12%. This is possible due to our high exposure to non-gateway markets in the Sunbelt region, which currently represent approximately 70% of our NOI. These markets continue to see high residential demand, particularly due to the employment opportunities and increasing wages, which has led to population growth that exceeds new supply. As a result, we are expanding our presence in the Sunbelt markets when appropriate. The expansion of our portfolio continued in the second quarter as we acquired a community in Nashville, which was our first multifamily property acquired through our JV development program. And then just last month, we closed on a joint venture in Austin, Texas, for the development of a new apartment community. These are both exciting opportunities which reflect continued value creation at IRT. In addition, we are actively investing in our existing community store value-add program, which Farah will provide more details later on this call. But I'd like to note that our planned renovation pipeline is robust and well-positioned to continue generating attractive, unlevered return on investment. As we look ahead, we anticipate further macro uncertainty and volatility, but due to the strength of our portfolio and execution of our strategic initiatives, we are equipped to continue to produce strong results. With that said, and as Jim will discuss more later, we recently closed on a new $400 million unsecured term loan using the proceeds to repay our 2024 maturities and to reduce the outstanding balance on our line of credit. This financing did not increase our leverage, but rather extended the maturity on $300 million of term loans to 2028, and increased our liquidity by $100 million while reducing our interest rate spread. These steps further strengthen our balance sheet and position IRT to realize future opportunities. For the second half of 2022, we will be mindful of economic volatility and inflationary pressure with a particular focus on employee engagement, continued cost management, and realizing the full benefit of our merger-related synergies. With that said, we believe today's environment is particularly favorable for the multifamily sector. as increasing home prices and mortgage rates have led to greater demand for affordable apartment rentals. This is true in our markets, which continue to exhibit strong fundamentals and where we increasingly provide homes in well-maintained, amenity-rich communities. As a result of our continued confidence, we are raising our previously provided full-year 2022 guidance, now targeting 13.75% combined same-store NOI growth and 27% core FFO per share growth, each at the midpoint of our guided ranges. We are confident in our ability to deliver these results given strong demand and rent growth achieved to date, and our expectation is that we will be able to continue to drive rental rate growth during the second half of the year while managing inflationary pressure on operating expenses. And now I'd like to turn the call over to Ella for an operational update.