Independence Realty Trust (IRT) investor relations material

Strategic focus and market positioning

• Concentrates on Class B apartment communities in high-growth Sunbelt and Midwest markets, benefiting from job-rich environments and strong migration trends that drive steady housing demand.

• Renting remains significantly more affordable than homeownership, with average rents about 34% less than new construction and homeownership costing 89% more than renting.

• Portfolio is weighted toward markets with employment growth forecasted at 3.5x the national average in 2026, and 68% of NOI comes from top in-migration states.

• Class B communities offer resilience through economic cycles, capturing demand from renters by necessity and those trading down from higher rent classes.

Operational performance and financial results

• Q1 2026 CFFO per share was $0.26, with a 40 bps year-over-year increase in effective monthly rents and a 60 bps improvement in bad debt.

• Completed 426 value-add renovations in Q1 2026, supporting NOI growth; same-store occupancy remained stable at 95.4%.

• Repurchased 1.8 million shares at an average price of $16.24, totaling $30 million in Q1 2026, with $60 million in buybacks since November 2025.

• FY 2026 guidance projects CFFO per share of $1.12–$1.16, with same-store NOI growth of 1.0%–2.4% and operating expense growth of 2.9%–3.9%.

Drivers of performance and value creation

• Value-add renovation program has delivered an average 16.1% ROI since 2018, enhancing NOI growth by about 20% and creating significant incremental value.

• Capital recycling strategy involves selling older properties and acquiring newer assets in higher-growth markets, with $161 million in sales and $214.5 million in acquisitions in 2025.

• Opportunistic equity issuance when trading above NAV and share repurchases when trading below NAV support shareholder value.

• Maintains an investment-grade balance sheet (BBB/Stable) with $563 million in liquidity and a simple, conservatively leveraged capital structure.