Independence Realty Trust, Inc.

standing by. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Independence Realty Trust Q3 2025 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. I would now like to turn the conference over to Stephanie Prezot, You may begin.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to review Independent Realty Trust Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results. On the call with me today are Scott Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer, Jim Zebra, President and CFO, and Janice Richards, Executive Vice President of Operations. Today's call is being recorded in webcast through the Investors section of our website at irtliving.com, and a replay will be available shortly after this call ends. Before we begin our remarks, I remind everyone we may make forward-looking statements based on our current expectations and beliefs as to future events and financial performance. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Such statements are made in good faith pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and IRT does not undertake to update them, except as may be required by law. Please refer to IRT's press release, supplementary information, and filings with the SEC for further information about these risks. A copy of IRT's earnings press release and supplemental information is attached to IRT's current report on the Form 8K that is available in the Investors section of our website. They contain reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures referenced on this call to the most direct, comparable GAAP financial measure. With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Scott Shape.

Thanks, Stephanie, and thank you all for joining us this morning. Third quarter results were in line with expectations due to our continued focus on managing revenues and expenses. During the third quarter, our average occupancy remained stable as we continued to prioritize occupancy over rental rate in this competitive leasing environment. We finished the quarter at 95.6% occupancy, a 20 basis point improvement from the end of the second quarter. Our resident retention of 60.4% helped support this stable occupancy. Same store revenue also increased in the quarter, driven by higher average rents per unit and improved bad debt versus a year ago. We outperformed expectations on bad debt in the quarter, which now represents less than 1% of same store revenues and demonstrates the effectiveness of the improved processes and technology we have implemented since early 2024. Our value-add renovations contributed to revenue growth as well. We completed 788 units during the quarter, achieving an average monthly rent increase of approximately $250 over unrenovated market comps, which equates to a weighted average return on investment of 15%. During the quarter, same-store operating expenses decreased over the prior year, driven primarily by lower property insurance and turnover costs. In terms of transactions during the quarter, we acquired two communities in Orlando for an aggregate purchase price of $155 million. These acquisitions more than double our number of apartment units in Orlando, improving our market presence and our ability to realize meaningful operating synergies. We currently have three communities held for sale, one of which is expected to close later this year, the other two early next year. While we maintain an active pipeline of acquisition opportunities, we recognize the current disconnect between our implied cap rate and market cap rates. We will continue to evaluate all investment opportunities, including value add renovations, acquisitions, be leveraging, and share buybacks as we allocate capital to drive long-term show or value. Market dynamics remain competitive, but green shoots are emerging in several of our markets as supply pressures ease. Signs of market recovery are most evident in Atlanta, where occupancy has increased 60 basis points since January 1st, all while our asking rents have increased 5%. Jim will provide more detail on other markets, but the point here is that we are seeing early and encouraging signs of recovery. New deliveries in IRT submarkets have declined 56% from the 2023-2024 quarterly averages, and supply is forecast to grow by less than 2% per year for the next several years, which would be meaningfully below the trailing 10-year average of 3.5% per year. Against these improving supply fundamentals, we expect department demands to remain steady in our markets, driven by employment opportunities, quality of life dynamics, and a rent versus buy economics that will continue to favor renting. We have seen positive net absorption in our markets for two consecutive quarters. During the third quarter, over half of our markets, encompassing 60% of our NOI exposure, registered positive net absorption. Atlanta, which is our largest market, moved into positive net absorption for the nine months ended September 30th, with occupancy increasing 50 basis points. Other markets like Coastal Carolina and Charleston are also seeing positive net absorption, while markets like Tampa, Denver, and Dallas are still working through their supply challenges. Before I turn the call over to Jim, I just wanted to reiterate a few things. Market fundamentals are improving, and while it's taking longer than we all expected, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we see pricing power increasing. We will remain focused on optimizing near-term performance through stable occupancy, managing expenses, and investing in our value-add program with its consistent outsized returns. Over the long term, the three factors that underpinned our past performance will drive our future outperformance. First is our differentiated portfolio of plans via partner communities and markets that will continue to outperform the national average for employment and population growth. Second is the efficiency of our management platform, which has a proven track record of optimizing revenues while also diligently managing expenses. And third is our disciplined approach to allocating capital. We will continue to be deliberate, patient, and nimble in deploying capital to the highest, best uses, including our value add programs, capital recycling, deleveraging, and share mimics. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. Thanks, Scott, and good morning, everyone.