UDR, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to UDR's third quarter 2024 earnings call. If anyone should require any opt-in assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. And it is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Vice President of Investor Relations, Trent Trujillo. Thank you, Mr. Trujillo. You may begin.

Welcome to UDR's quarterly financial results conference call. Our press release and supplemental disclosure package were distributed yesterday afternoon and posted to the investor relations section of our website, ir.udr.com. In the supplement, we have reconciled all non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure in accordance with Reg G requirements. Statements made during this call which are not historical may constitute forward-looking statements. Although we believe the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be met. A discussion of risks and risk factors are detailed in our press release and included in our filings with the SEC. We do not undertake a duty to update any forward-looking statements. When we get to the question and answer portion, we ask that you be respectful of everyone's time and limit your questions to one plus a follow-up. Management will be available after the call for your questions that did not get answered during the Q&A session today. I will now turn the call over to UDR's Chairman and CEO, Tom Toomey.

Thank you, Trent, and welcome to UDR's third quarter 2024 conference call. Presenting on the call with me today are President and Chief Financial Officer, Joe Fisher, and Senior Vice President of Operations, Mike Lacey. Senior Officers Andrew Kanter and Chris Van Enns are also available during the Q&A portion of the call. Our year-to-day results continue to exceed our prior expectations. Due to the operating strategies we utilize to drive strong same-store and earnings growth in tandem with improving industry fundamentals, As a result, we raised our full year FFOA per share guidance for the third time this year, while also improving our same store revenue, expense, and NOI growth expectations for the second time this year in conjunction with yesterday's earnings release. Strategically, we remain focused on three drivers of growth that differentiate us from peers. First, we continue to innovate which is added to our bottom line in 2024 and will do so for many years to come. This is evident in the results from our value-add initiatives, which have consistently grown in the high single-digit range and added 50 or more basis points annually to our same store revenue growth. Second, we continually listen to our associates and residents, which influences our operating tactics and long-term strategy. The Customer Experience Project is a great example of this. The insight we gleaned from hundreds of thousands of daily touchpoints with existing and prospective residents has translated into data on satisfaction. We use this information to orchestrate an enhanced UDR living experience, improving retention, and lower turnover costs and capital expenditures. We are just scratching the surface and expect further enhancements in the customer experience project will support additional resident retention advantages versus peers and drive future margin expansion and cash flow growth. And third, although we remain in a capital light mode, we maintain an investment grade balance sheet with substantial liquidity. This positions us well to take advantage of growth opportunities when we have an attractive cost of capital. We continue to explore various forms of external growth, including joint venture acquisitions, OP unit transactions, and development to drive future accretion. There's also a variety of positive fundamental drivers for our industry. These include, first, Demand remains strong. Employment growth continues to surprise the upside, and income growth has outpaced consensus expectations. This has led to more than 450,000 newly delivered apartment homes being absorbed nationally during the first nine months of the year, which is approximately 50% above the long-term average. Second, the pace of new supply is slowing. 2024 multifamily completion marks a 50-year high, but absorption has been robust and pricing on lease-up communities has remained rational. Total housing deliveries through the end of the year appear stable relative to the third quarter and starts continue to decline. We expect the trend of lower starts to persist due to the cost of capital and availability of capital. A future supply pipeline that is below historical average levels bodes well for rent growth in the years ahead. And third, Renting an apartment is approximately 60% more affordable than owning a single-family home in the markets where we operate, the best level of relative affordability in two decades. These fundamental trends, combined with our operating tactics that have improved resident retention, have led to further revenue, expense growth, outperformance. Mike will provide additional details in his remarks. Moving on, we continue to build on our position as a recognized leader in stewardship. With the release of the sixth annual ESG report, which we published earlier this month, we detailed the leadership UDR has continually exhibited in setting and achieving various environmental, social, and governance goals. Chris Van Anze and our sustainability team deserve credit for advancing our long-term environmental strategy. Collectively, our efforts have enabled UDR to become a more sustainable and resilient company, one that can thrive across a multitude of economic environments and overcome challenges head-on. Together, we have created a desirable workplace with an engaging employee experience that thrives on innovation and collaboration. To my fellow associates, I look forward to sharing more success with you in the years to come. As a final thought, macro volatility, election uncertainty, the path of the Fed and their collective efforts on interest rates, the economy, and the employment market are all out of our control. However, I remain optimistic about the long-term growth prospects for our country and the multifamily industry. We will continue to focus on what we can control, enhance our dynamic and innovative culture, and empower our associates to deliver attractive results that create value for UDR's residents and stakeholders. With that, I will turn the call over to Mike.