Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Marguerite Nader: Yeah, I mean the way I would look at it is the impressions are really just the total number of times our content was seen. So, we gauge that and we see that increase over time. So that’s a positive for us. And it really measures our ability to get our message out in front of our target audience. So that’s what our focus is. And of course, click-throughs and then what ends up being a reservation, which is the goal. And we have an increasingly high number of our reservations are booked online or through the call center over time. It’s increased significantly to where it’s now 70% of the overall activity.

Anthony Hau: Got you. Thank you.

Paul Seavey: Thanks, Anthony.

Operator: Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of John Pawlowski with Green Street. Your line is open.

John Pawlowski: Thanks. Good morning. I was curious, there’s a follow-up…

Marguerite Nader: Good morning, John.

John Pawlowski: …a follow-up to the membership question just there. Can you speak to the retention trends in the business? As camping demand normalizes towards pre-COVID levels, do you expect near-term declines in annual membership revenues and membership upgrade sales?

Marguerite Nader: Yeah. I think that we still see very strong demand for our Camping Pass product. It is really a low-cost product that we offer to our members as an incentive to kind of start their camping journey with us. So, we see strong demand. I don’t see that stopping as we head into next year. I think there is just that moderation that happened as a result in the post, kind of, COVID environment. But I believe it’s still very strong.

John Pawlowski: Okay. And then, Paul, I’m not sure I understood the response to the one question about, is the first 50% of MH rate increases represented in the total portfolio. Did I interpret it right that the 5.4% on the first batch was elevated because of the longer-term stays at a higher mark-to-market and we should expect the second batch to be lower than the 5.4%? Is that accurate?

Paul Seavey: Well, I think you have two things happening. One, for those — it’s specific to Florida. So, for those increases on turnover that occurred during 2023, in Florida, those residents can assume the remaining term of the existing lease, and they’ll go to market in January when their lease renews. So that cohort is moving to market come January 1st. During 2024, in other states, we’ll see a mark-to-market as well. So, we’ll have the benefit of that. The other thing that I was saying is the long-term agreements are more heavily weighted toward January 1st. So that actually — those tend to have a lower average increase than the market and the CPI increases given where CPI is right now. So, you have a little bit of a balancing between those two factors. So, I would anticipate a relative level of consistency across the year.

Marguerite Nader: And I think, John, if you just look at last year at this time, giving the same type of information and the portfolio is basically the same. You could take a look at that and see how that kind of played out this year — year-over-year, similar to what Paul is saying.

John Pawlowski: Okay. Makes sense. Last one for me. Can you share how seasonal RV bookings for the fourth quarter and the first quarter compared to a year ago?

Paul Seavey: Compared to a year ago, I don’t have that in front of me, John. But what I can say is that we’re seeing the — as I mentioned earlier, the seasonal activity builds in terms of the percentage for each month in the fourth quarter. And as we move out of the northern season, those customers that are with us a month or longer in that part of the country and move toward the southern season, we see that pace increasing over that time period and following that increase into the first quarter.