Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Killam Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust first quarter 2022 financial results conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a Q&A session. If at any time during this call you require assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, May 5th, 2022. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Mr. Philip Fraser, President and CEO. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning and thank you for joining Killam Apartment REIT's Q1 2022 conference call. I'm here today with Robert Richardson, Executive Vice President, Dale Noseworthy, Chief Financial Officer, Erin Cleveland, Senior Vice President of Finance, and Nancy Alexander, Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability. Slides to accompany today's call are available on the investor relations section of our website under Events and Presentations. I will now ask Nancy to read our cautionary statement.
Thank you, Philip. This presentation may contain forward-looking statements with respect to Killam Apartment REIT and its operations, strategy, financial performance, conditions, or otherwise. The actual results and performance of Killam discussed here today could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements involve numerous inherent risks and uncertainties, and although Killam management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements will occur as anticipated.
For further information about the inherent risk and uncertainties in respect to forward-looking statements, please refer to Killam's most recent annual information form and other securities regulatory filings found online on SEDAR. All forward-looking statements made today speak only as of the date which this presentation refers, and Killam does not intend to update or revise such statements unless otherwise required by applicable securities law.
Thank you, Nancy. We are very pleased with our strong financial and operating results for the Q1 of 2022 that include a 3.1% increase in same-property NOI growth and a 4.3% increase in funds from operations. Our 2022 strategic targets are outlined on slide three, and we have made good progress with all of our targets. Killam has acquired or agreed to acquire CAD 116 million in acquisitions year- to- date, and 91% of these acquisitions are outside Atlantic Canada, supporting our target to have greater than 35% of our NOI generated from Ontario and Western Canada.
Two of our developments, Latitude and The Kay, are now open, and the lease-up is very strong. Dale will take us through the Killam's Q1 financial results, followed by Robert, who will discuss our revenue and expense initiatives for growing earnings from our existing asset base, as well as an ESG update. I will conclude with a recap of our acquisitions and development pipeline. I will now hand it over to Dale.
Thanks, Phil. Key highlights of Killam's Q1 financial performance can be found on slide four. Killam achieved solid earnings growth in Q1, resulting in net income of CAD 65.7 million compared to CAD 27.4 million in Q1 2021. This increase is attributable to earnings growth from our same-property portfolio, acquisitions, completed developments, and fair value gains. FFO per unit for Q1 2022 of CAD 0.24 was up 4.3% from Q1 last year, and AFFO per unit of CAD 0.20 increased 5.3%. As shown on slide five, 5.1% growth in revenue was the main driver of NOI growth in Q1. A 220 basis point increase in same-property apartment occupancy, coupled with a 3.3% increase in apartment rental rates, led to this solid revenue increase.
The commercial and MHC portfolios also recorded strong top-line growth. Despite inflationary costs that increased operating expenses by 8.2%, Killam recorded a 3.1% increase in same-property NOI. Slide six illustrates apartment revenue key performance indicators over the last five quarters. The same-property rental rate increase of 3.3% in Q1 2022 was similar to Q1 last year. Increased rents on unit turns drove this top-line growth. As housing demand remains strong across our portfolio, we are seeing market rents continue to increase. In addition, with a tight rental market, we achieved same-property occupancy of 98.0% in Q1. Incentive offerings remained below 1% of residential rent, targeted specifically in our Alberta markets, where incentive offerings are commonly used. Excluding Alberta, incentive offerings as a percentage of revenue represented only 0.3% of revenue in Q1.
Total same-property operating expenses increased 8.2% in Q1. Please refer to slide seven. The increase was driven by a 21% increase in utility and fuel expenses due to higher natural gas prices across all of Killam's regions, with a weighted average price increase of 39% for the quarter, coupled with increased consumption due to colder weather. Oil and propane costs also increased significantly, up 47% from Q1 2021. As well, Killam recorded a 5.5% increase in property taxes, also contributing to higher than normal expense growth. Natural gas and oil costs are most heavily weighted in Q1. In 2021, 43% of Killam's natural gas and oil costs were recorded in the Q1 .
Although gas and oil costs are expected to remain higher than 2021 for the remainder of the year, their weighting on total expenses is not expected to be as significant during the remaining quarters. Killam's debt maturity profile, which can be seen on slide eight, includes average apartment mortgage rates by year versus prevailing five-year and 10-year CMHC insured mortgage rates. With recent increases in bond yields, current borrowing rates are above Killam's weighted average interest rates.
I'm pleased to report that we refinanced maturing debt in Q1 with new interest rates below expiring rates. However, this is not expected to continue looking forward. Killam has CAD 125.7 million of remaining mortgages maturing in 2022, with an average interest rate of 2.72%. Refinancing at higher rates is expected to lead to increased interest expense.
However, this increase is expected to be gradual due to the staggered nature of our maturity dates. In addition, the majority of Killam's debt is fixed, with only CAD 3 million of variable rate debt outside of our construction lines. We've been focused on reducing our debt levels for the last seven years, and we ended Q1 with debt as a percentage of total assets of 43.3%, down 170 basis points from 45% at year-end. Following our successful equity raise completed in early February, we also have capital flexibility, ending Q1 with approximately CAD 155 million of capital available through our credit facilities. I will now turn the call over to Robert, who will discuss our operating results and initiatives in more detail.
Thank you, Dale, and good morning, everyone. Please refer to slide 10. Killam continues to expand its portfolio coast to coast, and today we own and manage approximately 19,000 apartment units, 5,900 MHC sites in 39 communities, and approximately 1 million sq ft of commercial real estate. We keep our employees, residents, commercial tenants, and unit holders top of mind when we execute Killam's long-term growth strategy, specifically growing earnings from our existing portfolio, acquiring accretive properties as we diversify our portfolio geographically, and developing energy-efficient, high-quality properties in our core markets. Killam has made excellent progress with each of these three growth strategies to date in 2022, despite higher energy costs and realty tax increases.
Today, I will focus on Killam's first strategic priority, growing earnings from our existing portfolio based on strong operational performance that optimizes revenues and manages expenses. Phil will then conclude the formal part of this call with an update on new acquisitions and developments. Slide 11 highlights Killam's revenue growth for the quarter by property segment. All three business segments of our portfolio performed well and showed their resiliency in Q1 2022, achieving 5.1% overall revenue growth. The demand for apartments remains strong, with consistently high occupancy throughout the portfolio.
In Q1 2022, Killam's occupancy increased 220 basis points to 98% compared to the same quarter in 2021. Killam's MHC portfolio generated revenue growth of 3.3%, with higher site rents and improved ancillary revenue being the two key contributors. The nine resort properties in the manufactured home community segment only operate May through October each year, so they do not impact Q1 revenue figures. Presently, we are experiencing tremendous demand for the resort bookings throughout 2022, with near zero vacancy expected in Ontario, and our New Brunswick resorts are also forecasting record occupancy.
Clearly, Canadians are becoming more comfortable coming together in groups. Our 1 million sq ft commercial portfolio includes three large properties, plus other smaller properties located primarily in Halifax and Moncton. Together, they contributed CAD 2.5 million or 5.5% of Killam's NOI for Q1 2022. The Brewery Market is a 146,000 sq ft retail and office property in downtown Halifax that is over 92% occupied. Westmount Place, located in Waterloo, is a 300,000 sq ft retail and office property having 98% occupancy.
Our largest commercial property, Royalty Crossing, is a 383,000 sq ft enclosed mall in Charlottetown that is now 92% occupied, up 400 basis points in occupancy since the summer of 2021. Our new 4,500 sq ft Sephora will open next month, and we have secured a new Recipe restaurant as well as we are building a new BMO branch on the pad. This property has lots going for it, and it's gonna grow as we go forward through 2022. The commercial segment achieved 6.9% revenue growth quarter-over-quarter due to higher rental rates and improved occupancy. Our suite repositioning program is one of Killam's revenue optimizing levers for the apartment segment.
We have increased the number of repositioning each year for the last five years and expect to complete 600 suite repositioning this year to meet market demand across the portfolio. We take pride in how our property management and capital project teams have fine-tuned the renovation and suite finishing processes. This provides our residents with a high-quality product that addresses demand for upgraded suites that are both functional and sustainable.
The reposition units lease quickly, with residents typically committed before the work is complete. The maximum downtime to reposition a unit is 28 days, and Killam invests an average of CAD 29,000 per suite. The renovated suites earn an average 13% unlevered return on investment. With 150 suites repositioned in Q1 2022, we are on track to meet this year's target and expect to realize an additional CAD 2 million in annualized revenue for the apartment portfolio.
Killam has a long-term opportunity to reposition another 5,500 suites in our portfolio as they become vacant over time. Further, this repositioning opportunity continues to cycle forward as the properties age. The other essential component of our earnings growth is expense management. Please refer to slide 12. With increasing costs due to inflation and taxes, expense management has become even more critical. We closely monitor and analyze our property tax bills and appeal tax assessments as necessary. Most recently, New Brunswick raised assessments on Killam's properties by an average of 23% in 2022. The government agreed to review this increase, and the final average increase is now 15%.
Killam will appeal these higher taxes. To help combat outsized tax increases and higher inflation, we are investing to improve economies of scale as we expand geographically. With more units in each market, we can leverage relationships with suppliers and contractors, both regionally and in many cases, nationally. Investments to achieve energy efficiency are also a priority for Killam. Increasingly, Killam's commitment to sustainable practices throughout our portfolio pay dividends by lowering the consumption of fossil fuels as we utilize photovoltaic panels and geothermal heat and air conditioning where feasible, especially in new construction. Further, sub-metering of water usage at the suite level has proven to save approximately 25% on water costs.
Killam has a responsibility to lower its carbon footprint and expects to invest a minimum of CAD 8 million in energy-related projects in 2022 to help meet our ESG goals, plus offsetting a portion of inflation-impacted operating costs. Slide 13 is an infographic that encompasses the work we do to ensure our properties have a positive impact in our communities and minimize Killam's impact on the environment.
Since 2016, Killam has invested over CAD 33 million in energy projects that make our portfolio more resilient, cost-effective, and use fewer non-renewable natural resources. By investing in renovation, sustainable solutions such as renewable energy, and property-level technology, we create a better home for our residents. We're investing in over 400 electric vehicle chargers to meet the demands of our current residents, to also prepare for the increasing use of electric vehicles in the future. We are also pursuing building certifications that promote the best operating practices to deliver our residents industry-leading suites that promote even better health, comfort, and safety .
Yesterday, we published our 2021 ESG report, and these ESG goals are shown on slide 14. We have already highlighted the environmental objectives of Killam's ESG strategy. Regarding social commitments, Killam has a civic duty to be a contributor to the affordable housing solution. We increased our supported and affordable housing portfolio by 108 new units to now total 850, representing 5% of our portfolio. Killam is an active partner with many nonprofit housing and government agencies, as well as other charitable organizations. In 2021, we increased our paid employee volunteer time to three days, enabling more time for our team to be directly engaged in our communities.
On the governance side, we believe a supportive and inclusive workplace benefits all employees. We commissioned a diversity and inclusion survey with an independent third-party supplier, the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, to identify our employee diversification and assist Killam as we continue our equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility for all journey. The partnership with CCDI has been invaluable as their expert training, advice, and knowledge is very helpful. As well, we continue to report and submit our ESG data to rating agencies to ensure we are meeting expectations and continually improving.
For more information on Killam's ESG work, please visit our website at killamreit.com/esg. To download our 2021 report. Slide 15 shows that in addition to our 2021 highlights, the report covers all our material ESG topics and has detailed information on our energy management, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate-related projects.
Killam's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have been externally verified, and more fulsome data tables contain the pertinent information that are attached at the end of the ESG report. I will now hand you back to Philip to provide an update on our developments and acquisitions.
Thank you, Robert. As stated earlier, we have started the year with CAD 116 million in new acquisitions. On February 16th , 2022, Killam completed the acquisition of a four-unit apartment property in Halifax for CAD 3.5 million. This building is adjacent to other Killam properties on Spring Garden Road and completes the lot consolidation for the planned future development known currently as Medical Arts. On March 7th , 2022, Killam completed the acquisition of a 24-unit apartment property in Waterloo for CAD 7.9 million. The 460 building complex is located on a 1.2 acre property and has future development potential for up to 300 units.
On March 17th, 2022, Killam completed the acquisition of a 5,000 sq ft retail plaza containing three-quarters of an acre located adjacent to our Northfield Gardens property in Waterloo for CAD 3.9 million. This property, combined with surplus land already owned, will provide an opportunity to build up to 150 residential units in the future. Slide 17 shows Craigflower House, a 49-unit apartment property in the Greater Victoria area that we purchased for CAD 14 million or CAD 286,000 per unit on March 31st, 2022. The property is fully occupied and has an average monthly rent of CAD 1,123 per unit. This acquisition marks the third for Killam in the Greater Victoria area.
On April 29th, 2022, we acquired 671 and 665 Woolwich Street, located in Guelph, Ontario, for CAD 25 million. CAD 21 million for the residential building and CAD 4 million for the adjacent lot. 671 Woolwich Street is a 12-story, 84-unit concrete building that contains a mixture of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units. The average monthly rent is CAD 1,218 and is currently 98% leased. Subsequent to the quarter end, Killam has agreed to acquire two properties in Courtenay, BC, for a total of CAD 55.6 million. These assets are shown on slide 19 and 20. The Shores, located at 1,849 and 1,876 Riverside Lane, contain two four-story wood-framed buildings containing 94 units. This new property has the mixture of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units and is fully leased with an average monthly rent of CAD 1,641.
The Residences, located at 621 Crown Isle Boulevard, contains one four-story wood-framed building with 56 units. This is a new property that has a mixture of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. It is fully leased with an average monthly rent of CAD 1,608. We expect to close both acquisitions during the third week of May. These acquisitions will increase Killam's portfolio on Vancouver Island to 516 units. One of the key areas of focus starting in 2022 was the completion and lease up of our developments. The Latitude, which opened up in January, is now 61% leased. The Kay, which just recently opened on April 1st, 2022, is already 57% leased. The Luma, opening in June 2022, is currently 11% pre-leased. We anticipate these developments to contribute CAD 2.2 million in NOI in 2022.
Slide 22 shows the rendering of the first two completed projects and the three remaining developments expected to be completed this year. Previously mentioned two developments, Latitude and The Kay, have added an additional 232 units to our portfolio. Overall, these five developments will add CAD 240 million of high-quality properties to our portfolio. Slides 23-27 show renderings, progress photos, and key financial information on the Luma, a 168-unit development in Ottawa, The Governor, a 12-unit development in downtown Halifax, and Civic 66, a 169-unit development in Kitchener.
To conclude, we are very pleased with our Q1 performance. Given that even by Canadian standards, it was a long and cold winter. I would like to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication during the Q1 period. We are optimistic for the future, and we will continue to execute on our priorities and create value for all of our unitholders. Thank you. I will now open up the call for questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the Q&A session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by one on your touch tone phone. You will hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request, and your questions will be pulled in the order they are received. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by two. If you're using a speakerphone, please lift your handset before pressing any keys. One moment for your first question.
Your first question comes from Jonathan Kelcher with TD Securities. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning. First question, just on the utility costs. Roughly how much of that was related to the colder winter? Versus how much was related to the cost increase? Just trying to get a sense of what we should think about utility costs going up for the rest of the year.
Hey, Jonathan. I think overall, when you look at Atlantic Canada being a bigger piece, I think the rate increase was the biggest component. Certainly some weather, but we saw as we would have disclosed in the MD&A, some pretty significant increases in the cost of natural gas, especially in Nova Scotia year-over-year. I think that is likely to continue throughout the year. It'll come down a bit after the winter for sure. Year-over-year comparison, we would expect it to stay high.
Okay. If overall was north of 20% in Q1, you'd expect sort of what, 15%-ish? Is that the way to think about it?
I'd say that's reasonable. Yeah, we'll see. It's gonna change a bit by month, in the spring versus the summer. I think that's a reasonable place to start.
Okay. Just secondly, on the increase in interest rates and cap rates, what have you seen any change yet in cap rates? Maybe just remind us your thought process on underwriting. Cause I noticed, like, two of the acquisitions are at cap rates that are below current CMHC rates.
To answer the question, obviously we've seen the increase in the interest rates. The cap rates right now, I would say no. I mean, there is starting to be a period where some of these properties that are being marketed, where the pricing is going. The properties that we bought, I would say that they are full of upside potential in the next 12 months-24 months, for sure. Depending on even whatever the cost of the debt is for those properties, relatively speaking, at CAD 21 million and CAD 14 million, CAD 35 million, it's a very, very small part of our overall portfolio. I just see that the reason why we bought them is because they have good sort of growth potential in the years to come.
Okay. More generally speaking, is you you'd be comfortable buying at cap rates that are sort of equal to the 10-year if you do see good growth in the assets?
Well, I think the bigger question is that, again, coming out of the Q4 , being actively looking for product, executing and knowing the time lag it takes to look at a property, get it under contract and close, basically where we are today, what we're looking at, you're looking at it from an underwriting point of view in a different sort of environment. I think the question is a good question, but the overall answer is, we just gotta wait and see what the next quarter or two basically 180 days looks like from an acquisition point of view.
Okay. That's helpful. I'll turn it back. Thanks.
Your next question comes from Jenny Ma with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning.
Good morning.
I wanted to touch on the higher rates, as it pertains to how you look at the development. When you look at the pipeline, you're sort of targeting the 4%-5% range. As you look out to future projects, with this sort of sudden and material increase in rates, are you thinking about, you know, moving those parameters or, changing how you underwrite these projects and, you know, how you proceed with it, and maybe the timing? Maybe share some thoughts on that front.
I think actually, for the 10 years-11 years that we've been building product on our own balance sheet, we've enjoyed very low interest rates. That the overall cost of that line item has been virtually, like, it's been very, very small. Knowing that, you're basically front-loaded in terms of your equity, and you tend to get a lot of the costs at the sort of the back 20% of any development. I think the bigger issue right now is looking out and basically figuring out where the pricing is going to the overall total development cost question.
Right now, we have never seen such huge increases in construction costs. I'm saying that in today's environment, not even three months or four months ago, and especially not compared to two years ago when we started the current development projects that we are almost completing, as we speak. The interest rate is definitely one question or one issue that we have to look at, but it's really the overall cost and how much everything else has increased in the last basically three months.
Okay. I guess when you're underwriting these then, you know, would you be looking for an even bigger buffer to guard against these risks? I'm just thinking if there's a bit of a philosophical change in terms of how you approach future development projects, or maybe it's too early for that?
It's, I don't think it's too early. I think fundamentally it's the question, where is pricing going in today's environment? If you start to look at a project or even if you're trying to get a real budget in today's environment, and we've really seen it's a combination of a bunch of issues why pricing has really increased. Right now, you could say that there's an underlying element of it, which is the commodity, which actually ends up being natural gas and oil, and will that come down over time? I think long term, the answer is yes. That should relieve some of these real costs that we incur.
The other is just basically some of the trades are taking advantage of their pricing power because the demand is so strong for their services. Really what's gonna happen is that the construction side, which is the last thing the government wants to see, is gonna slow down because people like ourselves are gonna say, "We got a great project. We own the land, but maybe we can wait a year or two to see these price points come down.
Okay. Maybe looking at the other side of the equation here, you know, what are you seeing in terms of rental rates? I guess there's a few that have come online recently. You know, are you getting rents that are at the higher end of your pro forma? And maybe do you see any sense that higher rents could offset some of these higher construction costs as well?
We are definitely seeing that we are meeting our pro formas and exceeding them in all of our developments. There is such strong demand for new product.
Okay, great. Just turning to the debt maturities over 2022 and 2023, it looks like they're about just over half that are CMHC insured. When you look at the near-term stack, do you expect to refinance the majority of that, like a higher percentage with CMHC debt? Maybe you can comment on what is the differential that you're seeing on the all-in cost for CMHC versus non-CMHC insured debt.
I think Dale's gonna answer that.
Okay, sure. I'd say mostly we are refinancing with CMHC, and we have been adding CMHC on some that were not previously CMHC insured. That will continue throughout for the rest of 2022. In terms of the spread, you know, it has come in in terms of the conventional versus CMHC. The latest I'd heard, I think we're probably at around 70-80 basis points differential. We'll still look to do CMHC when we can. Just to highlight too on attainment timing for the H2 of the year, most of it was early actually in the H1 of Q2. Most of our I'd say 2/3 of our remaining refinancings have already been fixed. Our exposure is quite limited actually beyond those for the H2 of the year. That's positive for us in this volatile environment.
Okay, great. I guess as a proportion of the non-CMHC insured debt, like how much of that do you think will convert to CMHC? Was it a matter of just stabilizing some of them or are there other attributes that didn't have CMHC or maybe that's not how they were acquired? Just maybe give us a sense of how much more could be CMHC insured.
I think over time, it's reasonable to expect that almost all of it will be. Sometimes when we acquire things at just the different circumstances, timing, or other longer term growth plans with the property may cause us not to put CMHC. I think it's reasonable over time that most will, as long as the pricing still we have that advantage.
Okay, great. Thank you very much. I'll turn it back.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Mike Markidis with Desjardins. Please go ahead.
Thanks, everyone, and good morning. Just two questions from my end. First off, on the property tax outlook for the rest of the year. I know you got the lower assessments and you'll continue to fight them. In addition to that, I guess the government announced a rebate on the provincial portion. I'm just curious if those events are included in your Q1 expense accrual, or if we can expect a little bit of relief over the next several quarters once you incorporate these events?
They are included.
Yeah, those, they are included.
Q1 would be a good run rate for the rest of the year then, without any appeals, successful appeals?
Yes.
We should have some success.
Okay, thank you. Yep. Okay. Just maybe if you guys could give us a little bit of color, just curious as to what you're seeing in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, specifically with the temporary rent caps that have been introduced. Are you seeing a material impact on turnover? How does that compare currently to maybe what you would have experienced, you know, 12 months or 24 months ago? Thanks.
We're not seeing a material impact. It is decreasing, but it's not material. It's a trend that's been continuing for the last four years or five years. We find ourselves at about 24%, 25% turnover, and it used to be 33%.
Okay, that's it for me. Thank you.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Matt Kornack with National Bank. Please go ahead.
Hey, guys. Just a quick follow-up on the turnover side of things. Was there anything, or would you say this quarter would be impacted by Omicron and just the pandemic in terms of a bit lower figures? Also maybe if you could answer that, but also talk to what you're seeing in the spring leasing market so far, in your various markets in terms of you don't have much vacancy to fill, but rental rates, et cetera?
I don't think COVID or Omicron in particular has been a big impact in this year so far. I don't think it's caused people to stay in the same location. I don't think it's not in a big way anyways.
For your second part of that question, Matt, I think we all have contributed to it, but overall, it's extremely strong, the leasing. The few pockets that we had higher than what we wanted in terms of vacancy being Newfoundland, Ottawa, and even Alberta, the spring leasing has been extremely strong.
Ontario as well, starting to see, I mean, you guys didn't have much in the cities, but starting to see some pickup and strength there as well?
Especially in Ottawa. The rest of our portfolio in Ontario has been very, very strong with very, like, really low vacancy. You know, I'll call it a surprise, but really it isn't surprise. The leasing on the new developments is going extremely well.
Okay.
[crosstalk]
Sorry.
No, I was gonna add to that a little bit, Matt. It's Nancy. I was just gonna say too, like, yeah, so there's been a little bit of an acceleration of what we've seen in market rent across the board in the last couple months, you know, so even since the quarter ended. Just to remember, like, the Q1 for us, especially, you know, of the 6,000 units that were renewed or turned, 87% of them were renewals, right? It was a quarter that was really concentrated with renewals, with, you know, there's so many in Ontario and PEI, so it's a very concentrated quarter, so you would see that average rent in that quarter, but it would even out through the year.
Okay. No, that makes sense. On the Courtenay market, can you speak to what you like about it? Obviously, the assets look like they're very high quality in the market, but what was the justification for moving there? Is there an opportunity to do more sort of on Vancouver Island and BC more broadly?
Well, I'm gonna say a couple words, and I'll turn it over to Rob, who was actually out there and toured them before we made the offer. We look at that island of 780,000-800,000 people, which is the size of New Brunswick. In that distance, in that area between Courtenay and Victoria, I mean, it's all a very livable sort of world in terms of lots of nice little communities, midsize communities. You know, it's basically very weather-wise, it has virtually no winter, it's green year-round, and people wanna live there. From us to have basically bookends from the top to the bottom and in between is opportunities in the future in terms of our MHC side of our business, but also other apartment markets. That fundamentally is one of the big reasons why I'm happy to be investing on Vancouver Island.
Yeah. The entire corridor is attractive north to south. It works well. Courtenay-Comox, anchored by the military base, has an excellent base for employment. There's a lot of tech stuff going on in that area as well. The assets themselves are very well-constructed, attractive, and their lease-up times were, you know, Phil was commenting earlier about how quickly it is happening here. On Vancouver Island right now, it's even faster. It's a matter of weeks. There's such demand, such pent-up demand for purpose-built multifamily, so it's great.
Okay, perfect. That's great color. The last one for me, just on the financing side. There's a little bit of daylight between the five-year and 10-year bond yield right now, and obviously there's been a pretty steep rise. Are you inclined to go shorter in terms of financing at this point? Just maybe we don't all believe these interest rates. I don't know what your philosophy is there.
Well, again, you're right because for a good part of the last 90 days, it's been virtually 7, 8, 13 basis points spread. We don't really have anything today that we gotta make that decision on, but that is obviously something that we'll be looking at as well through the rest of this year.
Okay. Thanks. Appreciate the answers.
Sure.
Your next question comes from Jimmy Shan with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Just to follow up on your investment stance, you talk about kind of wait and see until we see where prices go. But if let's just say six months from now, we're still in the same situation, high construction costs, skinny investment spread, are you a buyer of today's prices or do you need the prices to go lower in order to move forward? Maybe what do you think about buying your stock here?
Maybe I'll answer your last question first. I mean, if the question about buybacks, we will continue to review where we are relative to our NAV and basically in real time to see when does that sort of make sense. Also, we'll be reviewing the trend in the industry, how many people are putting them in place. The first part of your question, basically what I see, and I could be wrong, is that for well-capitalized companies like ourselves and even better capitalized companies like the pension funds, they are still active buyers out there for very high quality product.
When you go down the food chain a bit, there are a lot of merchant builders or some that will basically figure out that they might be a little offside in terms of the rising cost and even the cost to carry. I think over the next 6 months-12 months, as we really see the effect of these higher interest rates trickle through the economy and through projects, there's gonna be opportunities. Therefore, there's a little bit of a wait and see opinion basically developing from within Killam's shop.
Okay. Sorry, I was more referring to just, you know, buying income producing assets today as opposed to building.
Even that, it means the same. It's the same thing.
Same answer. Okay.
Yeah, I mean, the 1/2 of the equation out there for the long-term owner that has no debt. He doesn't see it that way, and he can still wait. There's a lot of product out there that has been built recently or has been bought in fairly recent times with a lot of leverage. Those are the basically potential opportunities.
Okay. Just a quick one. I was looking at the expense growth across the different markets in the portfolio in the quarter. Ottawa, Kitchener, Waterloo, they seem to be on the lower end, like 4% or 5%. The Atlantic markets, the expense growth in the quarter was in the 10%-12% range. I was wondering if there was anything specific, any specific drivers for those differences?
It's all about the gas and oil. I'd say that that's it. Newfoundland stands out this quarter because it uses electricity. It's all electricity, so it didn't have that exposure. It's a bigger piece spend in that gas and oil. That's the story.
Okay.
And property taxes.
Oh, right. Right.
We got hit.
Okay.
Right?
Yeah.
Like, that's definitely made a difference in the quarter in Atlantic versus other regions.
Okay. Okay, thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you do have any questions, please press star one. Your next question comes from Mario Saric with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you. Maybe just coming back to the investment philosophy, that's been touched on a couple of times. To paraphrase, it sounds like you think maybe cap rates can jump a little bit, if there's a bit of pressure on merchant builders, and et cetera. Is the expectation for maybe higher cap rates going forward solely a function of the uptick in interest rates? Or are you seeing what I'd characterize as kind of uncertain government policy or regulatory environment as leading to potentially higher equity risk premiums that are being attached to the sector by the private side, not necessarily the public. With the private buyers that you're competing against, is it solely a function of interest rates moving up, or is there a bit of uncertainty on the regulatory environment that's potentially driving cap rates up?
Yeah, I think I don't know that I agree with a lot of what you just said on a lot of points. I think the point that I'm trying to get across is that, one, our belief of where cap rates are going, I think it's a little bit too early to tell. What I'm trying to get across is that there's some individual projects and assets that will start to struggle, and therefore, you can take advantage of that if the owner has to sell. I mean, the high-quality assets are still gonna demand the cap rate that is currently asking or has traded on recently, especially in the larger urban centers.
There could be a little bit of a trickle-down effect in some markets, but, and again, I think it's a little bit too early to tell. The correlation between interest rates and cap rates, the one thing that I'm not really agreeing with is the direct correlation that as interest rates go up, you're gonna basically see cap rates move in these markets. I say that because we still have a supply issue in terms of new housing in the multifamily and in the single family. I don't see that part of the equation being fixed in any short period of time. The pressure and demand for these assets will be there this time around.
Okay. Yeah, no, I can appreciate that historically, the correlation between cap rates and interest rates has actually been fairly low. I get that point. I guess what I'm or what I'm trying to understand is the sustainability of like flat acquisition cap rate spreads in the market going forward.
But again.
Interest rates.
I think the message again, we've communicated today is that, from a total dollar acquisition, I don't really see a lot in our pipeline to finish out this year. It's a little bit too early to see what 2023 is gonna bring or 2024. Our focus is on finishing up our developments, looking to see if we can actually start the next one. Basically, that's all I'm saying in terms of where we are in terms of acquisitions. Even if there are a couple that come your way that you want to, I mean, these are CAD 10 million, CAD 15 million, CAD 20 million on a CAD 4.6 billion-CAD 4.7 billion asset base. I mean, the safe thing to assume.
Sorry. Go ahead.
We're not gonna go and buy a CAD 500 million or CAD 1 billion portfolio at a three cap.
Sorry. No, I wasn't referring to Killam specifically. I was just saying the broader market, the sustainability of t ransactions taking place.
Again, I can't really comment on what we're gonna do.
Yeah. Okay. Just maybe one other question. In terms of the developments, the CAD 169 million of completion expected in 2022, what's roughly the amount of fair value gain taken on those projects to date versus the total anticipated?
Good question. Do we have that handy?
I would say. Well, not assume. I mean, we're probably about. We would've probably taken about a 1/3 of the fair value to date. We've been taking it over the past, but we remain on the conservative side until it's leased up and we really have clarity in terms of the stabilized NOI on that. Expect more to come on fair value gains for those.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from David Chrystal with Echelon Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, guys. Beyond utilities and property tax, you managed to hold the expense line, you know, pretty much in check. Do you expect to be able to hold the line on expenses for the remainder of the year, or are you seeing broader pressure? Where are you seeing that pressure itself?
I think we'd expect in the latter part of the year a slight tick up in those costs. You know, there's pressures on contract services and, you know, wage growth across the board. You know, we'll obviously be working to manage those, but we would expect a slight tick up from what we saw in Q1.
What would be a good run rate, whether it be, you know, relative to Q1 or a kinda annual growth versus the prior year?
Yeah, probably in the 4%-5% range.
4%-5%. Turning to your lifts on unit turns, you're, you know, kinda hitting new highs. You had, I think, 8.5% in the quarter. Do you expect this to accelerate throughout the remainder of the year as market rents kind of outpace guideline and allowed increases in rent-controlled markets?
We think it'll steady. It'll go steady. We won't see an acceleration of it.
Okay. Thanks. That's it for me. I'll turn it back.
There are no further questions at this time. Please proceed.
Well, I wanna thank everybody for listening and participating today, and we look forward to reporting our Q2 results, which will be the first week of August. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a great day.