UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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That said, as you look at year-to-date, I think we’re up 7% or 8% in terms of year-over-year traffic coming here through January and February. So we have seen us kind of come through that typical lull that we see seasonally and seeing traffic come back quite strong at this point.

Nick Joseph: Thank you. And then just, Joe, on your comments on DCP and the attractiveness there, how much of the return hurdles changed relative to the 12 or 24 months ago? And I recognize there is different levels of risk and different structures. So if you can try to just normalize that kind of how has it changed just with higher rates?

Joe Fisher: Yes. It’s €“ overall, if you look back to what we are doing in terms of the fixed coupon transactions on a typical developer capital program deal over the last several years, that was typically in that 11% to 12% type of targeted return. Today, that’s going to be several hundred basis points higher, so call it 13% to 14% returns on that paper. One of the big differences, though, is where we’re attaching in terms of the risk profile. So if we were in the 80% to 85% loan-to-cost previously, we think there is good opportunities in this market to actually be down in the 75%, up to 80% loan to cost. So you’re getting more return while taking less risk. You are also seeing some of the preeminent developers come back and look for this type of capital.

And so you may get better sponsorship within those investments as well as potentially better assets within those investments. So across the board, I think having capital for that bucket in this environment, you’re going to be a little bit more selective and pick and choose pretty good opportunities.

Nick Joseph: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Nick Yulico with Scotiabank. Please proceed with your question.

Daniel Tricarico: Hey, it’s Daniel Tricarico with Nick. Tom, you mentioned a wide range of economic scenarios for the year. Looking to get a feel for what type of economic scenarios baked into guidance, whether this is a softer landing with modest job losses. We know you have a more broadly diversified portfolio, which in theory should reduce volatility in your results, but any commentary on your view of the economic outlook would be helpful.

Thomas Toomey: Yes. I mean, first, I’ll call out to Chris Van Ens in the data analytics team in creating a wide range of predictive models for our business and help drive our decisions. I think the baseline midpoint of our assumption assumes about 1 million job loss for the year on a national basis. And then they try to really drill down to four or five more factors, which is really income growth and employment picture that drive our business and pricing power. And through that, back testing it, I think they have come up with about an 83% confidence weighted model that points to the midpoint of our scenario that we’ve outlined for guidance. Joe, Chris, anything you’d add to it, pat on the back?

Joe Fisher: Yes, definitely a pat on the back for Chris, on the predictive analytics side, but John nailed it, it’s a multifactor model. We’re, of course, looking at broader consensus expectations, plus some industry-specific expectations around rent growth. But while a lot of the focus comes into the potential job losses and layoff announcements, the recent job support was quite strong. We still expect to see wage growth throughout 2023, which is the biggest driver of rents within our industry. You also have homeownership rate expectations to come down. And while we focus a lot on the supply outlook within multifamily, which does look to be up slightly, call it, 10% to 20% year-over-year, a broader total housing picture actually should have a supply decrease next year given what’s going on in the single-family market.

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