Ottawa-based InterRent REIT says the overwhelming majority of its residential tenants are continuing to make rent payments amid the COVID-19 pandemic and that its portfolio “is well-positioned to face uncertain economic times.”
The local real estate firm provided the update this week as part of its first-quarter earnings report, which saw its funds from operations – a key cash-flow metric for REITs – jump nearly 25 per cent year-over-year to $14.5 million.
Average monthly rents on properties the REIT has owned for at least a year climbed 7.2 per cent from $1,209 in March 2019 to $1,296 in March of this year.
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“InterRent has invested extensively in its portfolio … allowing the REIT to achieve industry leading rental growth,” said InterRent CEO Mike McGahan in a statement.
The company says it collected 98 per cent of its residential April rent payments – a figure the REIT says is in line with a typical month – and is providing rent deferment and payment plans for tenants facing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
InterRent owns more than 10,200 units, primarily in multi-residential properties across Ontario and Quebec. Its local holdings include the LIV Apartment towers on Bell Street in west Centretown. In the first quarter, the REIT acquired a four-unit Westboro property contiguous to its development site near Richmond Road and Churchill Avenue.
The company’s shares were up 1.15 per cent to $14.10 in late afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange Wednesday.
