Essex Property Trust Inc ESS

Despite Short-Term Slowdown in Rent Growth, Essex Should See Solid Long-Term Internal Growth

Essex Property Trust is the most geographically focused multifamily real estate investment trust, with a portfolio of high-quality multifamily buildings positioned entirely on the West Coast: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle. These markets should experience strong, long-term demographic trends like job growth, income growth, decreasing homeownership rates, high relative cost of single-family housing, and attractive urban centers that draw younger populations, which allows the company to maintain high occupancies and drive rent growth above the US average. Long term we expect the company's markets to see job and income growth above national average, which should continue to support above average net operating income growth, though some of these markets are experiencing near-term slowdowns. The company's solid internal operating outlook should be supplemented by its small but opportunistic development pipeline to create value for shareholders.