Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call July 31, 2024 1:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Angela Kleiman - President and CEO
Barb Pak - CFO & EVP
Rylan Burns - EVP and Chief Investment Officer
Conference Call Participants
Austin Wurschmidt - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Nick Joseph - Citi
Steven Song - Bank of America
Daniel Tricarico - Scotiabank
Brad Heffern - RBC Capital Markets
Haendel St. Juste - Mizuho Securities
Adam Kramer - Morgan Stanley
James Feldman - Wells Fargo
Connor Mitchell - Piper Sandler
John Kim - BMO Capital Markets
Wes Golladay - Baird
Ami Probandt - UBS
Operator
Good day, and welcome to Essex Property Trust's Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. Statements made on this conference call regarding expected operating results and other future events are forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are made based on current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs, as well as information available to the company at this time. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Further information about these risks can be found on the company's filings with the SEC.
It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms. Angela Kleiman, President and Executive Officer for Essex Property Trust. Thank you, Ms. Kleiman. You may begin.
Angela Kleiman
Good morning, and thank you for joining Essex's second quarter earnings call. Our pack will follow with prepared remarks, and Rylan Burns is here for Q&A. We are pleased to report a strong second quarter, with core FFO per share exceeding the high end of our guidance range by $0.05. As a result, we have our second notable increase to our full-year guidance.
Today, my comments will focus on underlying drivers to our outperformance and operational highlights, followed by an update on the investment market. Starting with operating fundamentals. Year-to-date, demand for West Coast multifamily housing has exceeded our expectations, particularly in Northern California and Seattle regions.
While we've traditionally relied on the BLS to assess housing demand, the reported data have not correlated to the strength we're experiencing on the ground. As such, we've analyzed alternative demand indicators from third-party sources for better insights into the key drivers supporting housing demand.
The first of these is job openings at the top 20 technology companies. In June, openings in the Essex markets totaled over 17,000 jobs, which represent a 150% increase from the 2023 trough. While we have yet to return to the historical average of 25,000 jobs, the steady improvement so far has generated incremental demand in our markets and is a good precursor of the recovery, particularly in Northern California and Seattle.