Post Properties reflected the regional recovery in the apartment business with a first-quarter report showing a gain of $20.9 million, or 39 cents a share, compared to the loss of a penny a share for the same quarter of 2011.
The company reported income from the sale of a partial interest in an Atlanta complex and its bottom line was helped by climbing rents and numbers of renters.
Company CEO Dave Stockert said Tuesday the profits were a good way to start to 2012.
"We performed well across the board in the first quarter, with solid growth in profitability of our apartment business and a healthy pace of condominium sales," he said.
Occupancy rates at Post Properties' apartments were up from last year and higher than the national average.
Post's occupancy was 95.8% during the first quarter, compared to 94.8% for the same period of 2011. Its average monthly rental rate was up 6.2%, compared to the first quarter of 2011.
In metro Atlanta, 90.5 percent of apartments were rented in April, according to ALN Apartment Data of Texas, an analysis firm. That number had dipped to about 87 percent in early 2010. Effective rents are up 3.5 percent from last spring. That reflects the trends in other Sunbelt cities, ALN Apartment Data says.
Increasing numbers of renters and rising rents are in part the result of the foreclosure crisis. Some who have lost houses are renting and tightened lending standards have kept prospective buyers out of the market.
Post properties, headquartered in Atlanta, reported it has 1,810 apartments in six communities and approximately 37,567 square feet of retail space under development.
It operates in ten U.S. markets.
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