Dream Residential Real Estate Investment Trust

Welcome to the DREAM Residential REIT First Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Please be advised that all participants are currently in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star, then 0. During this call, management of DREAM Residential REIT may make statements containing forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond DREAM Residential REIT's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Additional information about these assumptions and risks and uncertainties is contained in DREAM Residential REIT's filings with securities regulators, including its latest annual information form and MDNA. These filings are also available on DREAM Residential REIT's website at .dreamresidentialreit.ca. Your host for today will be Mr. Brian Pauls, CEO of DREAM Residential REIT. Mr. Pauls, please proceed.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for DREAM Residential REIT's first quarter 2025 conference call. Speaking with me today are Scott Schumann, our Chief Operating Officer, and Derek Lau, our Chief Financial Officer. Q1 2025 results were largely in line with management's expectations. Comparative NOI growth was .8% -over-year. Comparative properties NOI margin was .9% compared to .6% in the prior year comparative quarter. FFO per unit was 17 cents and largely consistent on a -over-year basis. Occupancy has remained steady at .3% and during the quarter we completed nine renovations in Cincinnati with return on invested capital exceeding our targeted range of 12 to 15%. We are targeting renovations on another 10 units in the second quarter. We expect to continue with our current renovation velocity and adjust where necessary to reflect market conditions. Well, much of the U.S. has experienced strong supply growth. We have been able to maintain occupancy and continue to grow NOI. Economic and operating uncertainties may persist over the near term. However, we are cautiously optimistic that national net absorption will continue. At DRR, we are already starting to see increased activity in demand in the spring leasing season. The properties continue to perform well and with low leverage and a strong balance sheet, we are well positioned for our future. In March, we retain TD Securities as our financial advisor. Our strategic review is well underway and we will provide further updates when available. We continue to be focused on closing the gap between our trading price and the intrinsic value of our units. In the meantime, we will maintain our normal course of operations and execute on the reached core strategies. I will now turn it over to Scott to provide an operations update for the quarter. Scott. Thank

you, Brian. We are pleased to report $6.1 million net operating income and .9% NOI margin during Q1 2025. This represents 80 basis points of comparative property NOI growth compared to 2024. Revenue grew 30 basis points, operating expenses reduced 20 basis points, and margin increased 60 basis points. All favorable compared with Q1 2024 results one year ago. 12 month comparative property NOI growth topped .1% compared with the preceding 12 month period ending in March 2024. At the regional level, quarterly, year over year controllable NOI was stable in our Dallas Fort Worth assets, but it grew .6% in our Oklahoma assets and .3% year over year across our Cincinnati communities. Revenue growth resumed in Q1, increasing .4% above last quarter, .3% higher than last year, and .6% better than the preceding 12 month period. At the property level, net rental income strengthened 60 basis points year over year and 40 basis points quarter over quarter. Our property teams continue to perform exceptionally, managing controllable operating expenses on par with one year ago and with the trailing 12 month period. Across non-discretionary cost categories, we are experiencing increases in utility rates and usage. However, early indications point to expected savings versus forecast for both the insurance and property tax categories during the latter half of this year. First quarter leasing conditions were challenged. Occupancy remained steady at 93.3%. Renewals at a rate of 58% were prioritized and proved durable. The .4% blended tradeouts reflected a combined effect from winter seasonality and macro supply driven softness. The 8 percentage point spread between new lease tradeouts and renewal tradeouts was not insignificant, but by all appearances, it was a short lived divergence. Nationwide absorption has now swung positive for the first time in three years. Our March and April leasing traffic and tradeouts have notably strengthened. Thus far in Q2, new and renewal tradeouts are both in positive territory. It appears that spring leasing season is restoring and the drop off of new deliveries is beginning to favorably improve demand. Market rent gained a lease ended Q1 at 3%, though that has already expanded above 4% thus far in Q2 in sync with increasing spring demand. Both incentives and delinquency were slightly higher than Q1 2024, but retreated favorably down from Q4 2024. Property management continues to integrate advanced software into tenant screening processes, which will reduce delinquency and improve tenant demographics over time. Last year, the value add program paused in two of our markets, yet it gained momentum in our Cincinnati market on a limited scale. Nine suites were renovated during Q1, achieving 34% tradeouts and high team returns on invested capital. We will continue construction at a disciplined pace and carefully monitor conditions for next steps in our value creation strategy. The fundamentals of our business hold steady and positive occupancy, rents and net income. Our business is generating safe cash flow through near term uncertainties. The shifting dynamics from supply towards demand present an optimistic landscape for our apartment communities. It is my pleasure to turn things over to Derek Lau, our Chief Financial Officer.

Thank you, Scott, and good morning. For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, diluted funds from operations was 17.1 cents and compares to 17.4 cents in the prior year quarter. Net operating income for the first quarter was $6.1 million, an increase of 80 basis points year over year. NOI margin was .9% and compares to .6% in the prior year quarter. Interest expense was $1.8 million and GNA expenses were $910,000. As at March 31, 2025, the IFRS value's upper properties was $399.6 million, which is relatively consistent with a $400.5 million as at Q4, 2024. The decrease in fair value reflects 0.5 million of building improvements net insurance proceeds received, which is offset by a $1.5 million fair value loss. Our IFRS cap rate was .84% and is unchanged quarter over quarter. IFRS NAV was $13.37 per unit and compares to $13.39 in Q4, 2024. Net debt to net total assets was 33% and consistent with Q4, 2024. We have no mortgage maturities in 2025 or 2026. Our weighted average term to maturity on mortgage debt is 4.5 years and average rate of 3.99%. In addition, we continue to have $15 million drawn on our credit facility, which currently bears interest at a rate of 6.15%. At the end of Q1, 2025, our liquidity was approximately $61 million, comprising $6.4 million of cash and $55 million of availability on a credit facility. Thank you and I will now turn it back to Brian.

Thank you, Derek. We'd now like to open the call for questions.

We will now begin the question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue. The first question is from Jonathan Kelcher with TD Cowan. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Good morning. The first question in the prepared remarks, you guys seem pretty bullish on your overall markets. Is there one market that's like, could you maybe dive a little bit deeper into that and talk about each of your three markets?

Good morning, Jonathan. I think the first thing I would say is nationally, the supply of new deliveries has dropped 20% in Q1 off of the peak. That's nationally. In our markets, it's dropped significantly more than that. In Dallas, for example, Q1 was about 50% lower than the peak quarter of deliveries. So I think that that trend is impacting all of our markets in Oklahoma City and Cincinnati from a percentage basis that dropped even further than that. But those are markets that had a lower number of deliveries, but still, you know, impacted each of them. So I think broadly speaking, all of our markets are going to continue to experience a favorable rebound from a supply and demand balance. And in that regard, I think we're going to continue to see the Sun Belt respond favorably because the demographics are there. And then I think, you know, we continue to see our Midwest markets perform exceptionally well. And that will continue.

Okay, and then just changing gears, there's no change in the IFRS value or cap rates. Is that a function of the strategic review or I guess another way to add? What are you seeing in terms of transaction volumes and pricing in the markets right now?

Limited. Hi, Jonathan, still limited volume. So, you know, the points of comparison are relatively fewer. Obviously, there's some bigger than transactions that have occurred in terms of market data that we're seeing. For example, Green Street, the overall cap rates were flat from there. So we do have points of evidence that made us choose to keep our cap rates flat. So not necessarily part of strategic review per se, but anecdotally what we're seeing on the ground. Yeah, I just added that,

Jonathan. I don't think the strategic review had any influence on our NAV or IFRS cap rate.

Okay,

thanks. I'll

turn it back. Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. The next question is from Robert Lafontaine with Nugget Capital. Please go ahead. Mr. Lafontaine, your line is open on our end. Perhaps it's muted on yours.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you now. Go ahead.

Yes. Thank you for taking my question in regards. Going through the strategic.

Hi, operator. We're not able to hear Robert's question.

Yeah, Mr. Lafontaine, your phone line is breaking up. Perhaps disconnect and try dialing back in again and we'll get you right back into the queue. The next question is from Alex Leon with Desjardins. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning, everyone. I just want to confirm. It sounds like the trend in the leasing environment is positive. So I guess maybe two questions there. Would you characterize it as the markets reach an inflection point? And then secondly, maybe your expectation on where those new and renewal spreads can trend over the course of the year?

Thank you, Alex. In terms of the leasing environment, I would characterize it's the first two months of the quarter were pretty what I would call winter seasonal combined with supply impacts. In March, we start we began to see things begin to pick up sort of in line with previous spring leasing seasons. You know, maybe if we go back three or four years in line with a more normal spring leasing. We're seeing that trend continue in April. And I think that the overall dynamics from the demand increasing and the supply dropping off, I think we're going to see that over the course of the next four quarters, we're going to see a more favorable demand oriented environment rebound there.

Okay, that's great. And then maybe just some clarification on some of the prepared remarks. I think it was mentioned that you guys were expecting some some cost savings in the second half of the year. I just want to make sure I heard that properly. Was that on property taxes and insurance and and maybe if you can maybe quantify that a little bit?

Certainly, I'll clarify my statement. So I was speaking specifically to non discretionary items. And we are seeing increases in utility rates and some upticks in usage. But that increases looks to be offset by a reduction in insurance versus our forecast that is still to be determined because we have not renewed yet, but we're we're expecting to see some savings versus our forecast and then early indications of property tax appeal and protest process appears to be a reduction from where our forecast was, but that will be that will be played out in the latter half of the year.

Okay, thank you for that. I'll turn it back.

This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Paul for any closing remarks.

Thank you everyone for participating in today's call. We look forward to speaking again soon. This concludes our call. Take care.

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.