Operator
Good day, everyone, and thank you all for joining us to discuss Equity Lifestyle Properties second quarter 2026 results. Our featured speakers today are Marguerite Nader, our Vice Chairman and CEO; Patrick Waite, our president and CEO, and Paul Seavey, our executive vice president and CFO.
Advance of today's call, management released earnings. Today's call will consist of opening remarks and question-and-answer session with management relating to the company's earnings release.
For those who would like to participate in the question-and-answer session, management asks that you limit yourself to 1 question so everyone who would like to participate has ample opportunity. As a reminder, this call is being recorded.
Certain matters discussed during this conference call may contain forward-looking statements in the meaning of federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements are subject to certain economic risks and uncertainties.
The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any statements that become untrue because of subsequent events. In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G.
Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release. Our supplemental information, and our historical SEC filings.
At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Marguerite Nader, our vice chairman and CEO.
Marguerite Nader
Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I am pleased to discuss our operating results.
For the quarter, our NOI increased 6.5% as compared to last year. We focus on translating NOI growth to normalized FFO growth driven by continued strength in our annual revenue streams, and managed expenses throughout our portfolio.
Our normalized FFO per share growth for the quarter is 7.7%. The strength of our portfolio allows us to raise our full year guidance for normalized FFO per share.
Our MH and RV portfolio benefits from powerful long term demographic tailwinds including the aging of the population and the fact that approximately 70% of our MHC communities are senior lifestyle oriented. These demand drivers help support the stability of our business and position us well for continued outperformance even in an environment of broader market uncertainty.
Our MH core portfolio represents approximately 60% of our total revenue with occupancy of 94%. We have increased our MH occupancy for 2 consecutive quarters and have raised guidance for the rest of the year for our largest revenue line item.
Our properties are in demand and the teams are executing on our strategy to increase occupancy. The manufactured housing community model benefits from stability driven by long term residency and high occupancy levels.
Once communities achieve strong occupancy, they tend to remain highly occupied over time. Our portfolio is further differentiated by our resident base, with 97% of MH residents owning their home and choosing our communities as their retirement destination.
Beyond housing, our communities foster a strong sense of connection and purpose through resident led clubs and activities. The activities at our properties promote wellness, creativity, lifelong learning, and social engagement creating neighborhoods where residents can build relationships and remain active and involved.
Annual RV and marina revenue grew 4.8% year to date, driven by strong retention across our RV sites, park models, resort cottages, and other RV accommodations. We saw decreased attrition from our customer base as compared to last year and a strong level in engagement from new customers.
Our annual RV customer base is split between winter and summer seasons. Approximately 70% of our annual revenue is generated from Sunbelt properties, serving active adult customers.
Like our MH residents, they value community, lifestyle, and quality amenities. The remaining 30% of revenue is generated from seasonal properties that primarily serve families who return year after year for recreation, traditions, and the unique community experience our properties offer.
During the quarter, the Thousand Trails portfolio delivered strong performance with membership growth of 800 members and subscription revenue increasing by 11%. The strength of our membership platform continues to resonate with customers as more guests recognize the value and flexibility it provides.
I want to thank our team members for their commitment to our customers and communities. I will now turn the call over to Patrick to provide further details on our financial performance.
Patrick Waite
Thanks, Marguerite. Stable annual revenue streams from MH residents RV and marine annual guests, and Thousand Trail members have always been the focus of our business.
Accounting for more than 90% of our core revenue. Over the last 5 years, our core MH revenue growth has averaged 5.8%.
While our core RV revenue growth has averaged 5.7% led by long term annual RV revenue which makes up more than 70% of total core RV revenue. I am pleased with the build back of annual customers in our northern markets over the last year.
Occupancy across our MH portfolio remained strong at 94%. Supported by demand from our 55 plus customer, to purchase and rent homes in our communities.
To date growth of our MH occupancy has come from both sales and rentals. We also typically see approximately 20% of our home sales are to existing renters who choose to become a long term homeowner, and current homeowners who want to upgrade or downsize from their existing home.
Our Florida markets continue to support long term occupancy growth. With our major submarkets of West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa-St.
Pete, and Ocala Daytona, all meeting demand for the value that residents find at our active lifestyle 55 plus communities, particularly given the cost while alternative housing in those markets. We also continue to see steady demand across our highly occupied California and Arizona markets.
While the Northern US submarkets in the Midwest Northeast, and Mid Atlantic are in the middle of the summer home selling season. Where we see demand Caribbean contributing to 40% of new home sales in the quarter.
Property expansions are key elements of our MH occupancy growth strategy as we recognize this substantial demand for affordable 55 plus communities. In Florida, we will add occupancy through sales and rentals across 4 recent development projects with close to 500 sites.
And another age qualified expansion project in the Phoenix market, we added more than 20 units of occupancy. Growing the occupancy of the property by 4% year over year.
The much-anticipated 21st Century R.O.A.D. to Housing Act became law earlier this month.
Over the last 10 years, through the work of the Manufactured Housing Institute members of the industry, manufactured housing has been increasingly recognized at the federal and state levels as a source to address the need for more affordable housing in the US. And manufactured housing is specifically addressed in the R.O.A.D.S.
legislation. A few key points to mention.
First, manufactured housing is exempt from the institutional investor provision in the act, which preserves investment in the asset class. Second, HUD code homes will not be required to have a permanent chassis.
Which allows manufacturers greater flexibility in home design. They will expand the market for manufactured housing by offering homes that include designs similar to traditional site built homes.
As well as 2-story configurations. And, third, zoning and land use best practices encourage state and local governments to accommodate HUD code manufactured homes in more locations and developments.
The practical implications for the bill will take some time to materialize, but they include more diversity in the homes we can place in our communities, and some further support to secure entitlements as we pursue expansion projects. We completed the launch of our new Thousand Trails memberships a little over a year ago.
Since offering these memberships, we have seen strong demand. With more than 9 thousand memberships sold.
Including almost 7 thousand over the last 12 months. Our 12th annual 100 Days of Camping campaign is in full swing across our RV portfolio.
This social media campaign celebrates the roughly 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day. And has 33 million, excuse me, 33 million views across the social media channels so far this year.
Campers across the country are using their hashtag and sharing photos posing with their campaign rally towel at 100daysofcamping.com. Now I will turn it over to Paul.
Paul Seavey
Thanks, Patrick, and good morning, everyone. I will highlight some takeaways from our second quarter and June year to date results, review our guidance assumptions for the third quarter and full year 2026 and close with a discussion of our balance sheet.
Second quarter normalized FFO was $0.74 per share. Strong core portfolio performance generated 6.5% NOI growth in the quarter compared to the same quarter last year, 120 basis points higher than guidance.
Core community based rental income increased 5.8% for the second quarter and 5.7% for the June year to date period. Each compared to the same period in 2025.
In the second quarter, we generated rate growth of 5.8% as a result of noticed rent increases to renewing residents and market rent paid by new residents after resident turnover. For the first 6 months of 2026, occupied sites increased by 67.
During that same period, we added 140 expansion sites resulting in occupancy of 93.7% as of the end of June. Our RV and Marina platform offers products with differing features that allow our customers to enjoy our properties.
These include annual, seasonal, and transient retail stays, well as our Thousand Trails membership. In aggregate, the growth rates from our core portfolio RV and marina base rent combined with our annual membership subscriptions were 3.1%, and 1.6% for the second quarter and year to date periods, respectively.
Core RV and Marina annual base rental income which represents over 70% of total RV and marina based rental income, increased 5.4%, 4.8% in the second quarter and year-to-date periods, respectively, compared to the prior year. Seasonal and transient rent was 170 basis points lower than guidance as a result of lower than expected transient rent in the quarter mainly in June.
We continue to realize offsetting expense savings. The net contribution from our total membership business consists of annual subscription and upgrade revenues offset by sales and marketing expenses.
The membership business contributed $17.1 million and $34.4 million net for the second quarter and June year to date periods, respectively, compared to the same periods last year. The year to date growth of 9.6% is mainly attributed to rate growth in our subscription revenue.
Year to date, approximately 2.6 thousand upgrade subscriptions were originated by new and existing members. Core utility and other income increased 6% for the June year to date period compared to prior year.
Our utility income recovery percentage was 50.4% year to date in 2026, about 220 basis points higher than the same period in 2025. June year to date core operating expenses increased 2.3% compared to the same period in 2025.
Expense growth was 120 basis points lower than guidance in the second quarter, mainly resulting from savings in utility and real estate tax expenses. Following resolution of appeals at properties in Texas.
Second quarter core property operating revenues increased 4.9% while core property operating expenses increased 2.9%. Resulting in growth in core NOI before property management of 6.5 percent.
For the year to date period, core NOI before property increased 5.7%. Income from property operations generated by our non core portfolio was $2.9 million in the quarter, and $5.9 million year to date.
The press release and supplemental package provide an overview of 2026 third quarter and full year earnings guidance. The following remarks are intended to provide context for our current estimate of future results.
All growth rate ranges and revenue and expense projections are qualified by the risk factors included in our press release and supplemental package. Our guidance for 2026 full year normalized FFO is $3.18 per share at the midpoint of our guidance range of $3.01 to $3.23 We project core portfolio property operating income growth of 6% at the midpoint of our range of 5.5% to 6.5%.
We project the noncore properties will generate between $8.7 and $12.7 million of NOI during 2026. Our property management and G&A expense guidance range is $119.7 million to $125.7 million In the core portfolio, we project the following full year growth rate ranges.
3.9% to 4.9% for core revenues 1.6% to 2.6% for core expenses, and 5.5% to 6.5% for core NOI. Full year guidance assumes core MH rent growth in the range of 5.2% to 6.2%.
Full year guidance for combined RV and Marina rent growth is 1.1% to 2.1%. Annual RV and marina rent represents approximately 75% of the full year RV and marina rent, and we expect 4.8% growth in rental income from annuals at the midpoint of our guidance range.
Our assumptions for full year RV and marina rent growth reflect current seasonal and transient reservation pacing for the third quarter. Our fourth quarter guidance assumes no growth in transient rent compared to prior year.
Consistent with our historical practice, we make no assumption for the impact of a material storm event that may occur. Our third quarter guidance assumes normalized FFO per share in the range of $0.76 to $0.82 Core property operating income growth is projected to be in the range of 0.3% to 6.9% for the third quarter.
Third quarter growth in MH rent is 5.6% at the midpoint of our guidance range. We project third quarter annual RV and Marina rent growth to be approximately 4.9% at the midpoint of our guidance range.
Third quarter growth in core property operating expenses is projected to be 1% at the midpoint of our guidance range. I will now provide some comments on our balance sheet and the financing market.
Our balance sheet is insulated from refinance and rate risk, and is well positioned to execute on capital allocation opportunities. Our floating rate exposure is limited to balances on our line of credit.
Our debt-to-EBITDAre is 4.4x, and interest coverage is 5.6x. We have access to approximately $1.2 billion of capital from our combined line of credit and ATM programs.
We continue to place high importance on balance sheet flexibility. And we believe we have multiple sources of capital available to us.
Current secured debt terms vary depending on many factors, including lender, borrower sponsor, and asset type and quality. Current 10-year loans are quoted between 5.25% and 5.75%.
55 to 70% loan to value, and 1.45 to 1.65x debt service coverage. We continue to see solid interest from life companies and GSEs to lend for 10-year terms.
High quality age-qualified manufactured housing assets continue to command best financing terms. Now we would like to open it up for questions.
Operator
Thank you. At this time, we will conduct a question-and-answer session.
As a reminder to ask a question, you will need to press 1-1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press 1-1 again.
Our first question comes from the line of Michael Goldsmith of UBS. Your line is now open.
Michael Goldsmith
Good afternoon. Thanks a lot for taking my question.
2 questions on transient RV and seasonal. I guess, you have updated the guidance there, and so we have got good visibility into third quarter and what is implied for the fourth quarter.
So maybe you can kind of walk through your expectations for the rest of the year, Clearly, seasonal trends have just been under a little bit of pressure. And so is that the expectation of third quarter?
And then also given you are lapping some of the disruption from Canada, maybe in the fourth quarter on the seasonal side, maybe you can kind of walk through the overall assumptions that you baked in for the back half?
Paul Seavey
Sure. Happy to do that, Michael.
So we have raised our full year normalized FFO per share guidance. That reflects our year to date outperformance and the changes to guidance in various line items for the remainder of 2026.
The main contributor of the change is core NOI improvement of 30 basis points that is mainly from expenses. We also included changes to our MH rent, our membership subscriptions in addition to the expenses with respect to RV and marina based rental income, growth, we adjusted that down and at the same time raised our annual growth to 10 basis points.
The change from our prior guidance reflects our transient expectations for third quarter, that is based on current reservation pace and we reduced fourth quarter year over year growth in transient, and that is flat year over year.
Michael Goldsmith
Thank you.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Steve Sakwa with Evercore ISI.
Your line is now open.
Steve Sakwa
ISI. Marguerite, could you just maybe talk about the, the process for building occupancy?
If I look at Page 9, and just look at the core portfolio, you are sitting in at around 93.8%. And I know on past calls, you have talked about some of the storm issues that you have had that kind of knocked some of the units offline.
But maybe just walk us through your confidence level of building occupancy, back towards 95%. And what do you think the right time frame is to get that portfolio back to 95%?
Marguerite Nader
Sure. Thanks, Steve.
I think Patrick is going to walk you through how we are thinking about growing occupancy. And just to point out that we did grow occupancy.
I mentioned it in my opening remarks for the last 2 quarters, but maybe, Patrick, you could walk through.
Patrick Waite
Yes, Steve. So over the last 2 quarters, we are up about 70 units.
And I guess I would raised a couple points. 1 is over the last 4 quarters, the combined new and used home sales have both been increasing.
We increased rentals year over year by about 140. So we are meeting demand on both home sales and on rentals.
And I see that as an opportunity to, you know, continue to grow in future quarters. On the path back to 95% occupancy, we are taking it a quarter at a time, and I would expect that, over the next few quarters that we will be putting up occupancy growth that is been favorable to the last few quarters.
You know, as you pointed out, we came through a transition here where we had some impact from storms. That requires some recovery.
Putting inventory into those communities and broadly across the portfolio.
Marguerite Nader
We feel good about demand, and feel good about occupancy growth in the back half of the year. And Steve, I would just remind you that over 50% of our properties are 98% occupied.
And really have been for a number of years. And that it is sustainable due to the investment that the customer is making when they are picking out a community.
They make a long term commitment and, generally a long term commitment for us and for the home. So and our customers are paying cash for their home which means they really have a strong incentive to keep up the resale value.
So that contributes to our positive outlook on growing occupancy.
Steve Sakwa
Thank you.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of James Feldman of Wells Fargo.
Your line is now open.
James Feldman
Great. Thanks for taking the question.
I know in the third quarter, you start to send out renewal rates for the following year. Can you talk through for your annual business lines, what those are starting to look like?
Or what you are asking? And if you have any responses yet.
Yes, James.
Patrick Waite
it is Patrick. You know, as we get really moved through the third quarter into the fourth and we are going through our annual budget will start very soon.
That happens to occur alongside of us coming up with our MH rent rates for the upcoming year. And just as a reminder, the majority of those occur in the first quarter.
And with 60 days, 90 days notice, we will be sending those out, as we approach the fourth quarter and in the fourth quarter. So we are going through that process right now.
I would say from the perspective of a range, we will be in a position to do that maybe in the next call.
Paul Seavey
And, James, 1 thing to keep in mind as we think about those increases, a couple of metrics that we look to are indications of COLA, which typically comes out a bit later in the year, as well as the CPI that is released in August as well as September.
James Feldman
Okay. Thank you.
Thanks, James.
Operator
Thank you. 1 moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Spector of Bank of America Securities. Your line is now open.
Analyst
Great. Thank you.
Just listening to the opening comments and discussion around the 55 plus customer, given you have the expertise, you have the strong brand serving that 55 plus customer, how are you thinking about 55 plus built to rent communities? I have I have seen some articles in that.
It seems to be an emerging niche area within Resi.
Marguerite Nader
Sure. So we have within our portfolio, we obviously have rental properties, rental communities, And as we look to opportunities to grow we will look at those types of assets.
But really focused on our MH portfolio. And we will continue to look at opportunities to grow inside the MH business.
Analyst
Thank you.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Eric Wolfe of Citi.
Your line is now open.
Eric Wolfe
Hey, thanks. I just want to go back to your guidance increase for a second.
You beat your second quarter by $0.02 And if I look at the components of your guidance, you raised your core income, as you mentioned earlier, but you also raised your noncore income. I mean, it looks like there is some increase in income from other investments as well.
So I was just curious, what is the offset to all that? I guess I would have thought maybe a little bit larger of a guidance increase.
And then could you also talk about what is in the income from other investments and if that is sort of onetime or more of a recurring nature.
Paul Seavey
Sure. Thanks, Eric.
As you mentioned, we were $0.02 ahead of our guidance. The core portfolio did outperform, and that is the main contributor.
it is really the result of the lower expenses that we saw in the second quarter. There are a number of things that happened kind of below the line, so to speak.
And that includes income from other investments as well as the of the joint venture that we mentioned. The pickup in the noncore, when you run that through to the bottom line, it is effectively offset by shifts in our expectations for JV income and certain other line items.
So on a net basis, that pickup in noncore is offset And then with respect to what is included in the income from other investments net, we have some of our subsidiary businesses there. We also report certain income related to corporate and other matters that may come from time to time.
During the quarter, we did recognize income from a settlement of a dispute. We had some income from prior business interruption flow through there.
But at the end of the day, kind of as we work through all of it, the core portfolio is really what drove the outperformance.
Eric Wolfe
Thank you. Welcome.
Thanks, Eric.
Operator
Thank you. 1 moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from the line of Brad Heffern of RBC. Your line is now open.
Brad Heffern
Hey, thanks. On seasonal transient, you obviously saw the weak June you have clearly adjusted things for a slower booking pace.
Can you talk through just what you think is driving that? I know sometimes it is weather, I would think at the same time, like, the Canadian customer comps are getting easier.
So just the dynamics there would be great.
Patrick Waite
Yeah. Sure.
it is Patrick. You know, on the transient front, I would just highlight that it continues to reflect volatility.
You know, as we work our way through the summer season, we have experienced some challenges with weather. that is had a persistent impact on transient results over, you know, our tenure in the industry.
You know, looking at the seasonal business, you know, as we mentioned, we would not expect to really get better visibility there for several weeks as we get in, you know, late into the third quarter. And into the fourth quarter.
As people were, you know, considering booking a reservation for their winter stay in the Sunbelt, you know, start to be more active.
Marguerite Nader
Yeah. I have been in Florida over the last few weeks.
I have been on-site with our property teams They are consistently reaching out to seasonal guests who chose not to book with us last year or seasonal guests that were with us last year and chose not to book the early bird reservation. there is certainly indications that many are considering a return, and we are booking some reservations now.
But that activity is really not anticipated to pick up for the for the next several weeks. And, you know, as we work our way through that, we will just have better visibility and can share some more insight.
Brad Heffern
Thanks. Thanks, Brad.
Operator
Thank you. 1 moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from the line of John Kim of BMO Capital Markets. Your line is now open.
John Kim
I wanted to ask about the expansion sites in MH. And if that is having a direct impact to MH occupancy.
So my question is, are these harder to lease up given they require a new, more expensive home, or are they easier to lease up because they are in more established communities? And I also wanted to know how you price expansion sites versus a comparable existing site within the community.
Patrick Waite
Yeah, John. it is Patrick.
Yeah. I guess I would first, I would point out that we completed an expansion in Florida, 140 MH sites.
that is an expansion on an age qualified property. And it is got a history of expansion.
I we acquired the property. it is 900 sites.
it is in the greater Tampa St. Peter MSA.
When we acquired it at 900 sites, we expanded by 40 sites in 2019. Having acquired the property in 2016.
We acquired a adjacent parcel, the 1 we just completed for development in 2019, and we just brought that online. So just using that as an example, the site rents on the expansion sections, you know, reflect to the extent the sites are know, on water or have a have a particularly good view or site configuration, they will reflect a premium rent compared to a standard site.
Even within the expansion section in the in the original property. So the expansion sites can typically join or typically carry a higher rent, but it really depends on the configuration of the community that you are expanding.
And then just with respect to the nature of the homes that we place in our expansion sections, You know, they are they are gonna reflect, you know, the scope of price points that we put into the broader community that we are expanding. So as we are as we are building occupancy, we may have higher end homes in that expansion, but it is also gonna reflect a standard site plan as well.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Haendel St.
Juste of Mizuho Securities. Your line is now open.
Analyst
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question.
I was hoping you could share a bit more color on the cadence of RV bookings throughout 2Q and early 3Q. Marguerite, I think you mentioned that Memorial Day was a bit light.
But within your range of expectations. So I was hoping to get some more color on how the Juneteenth and July 4 holiday weekends were versus prior year and versus your expectations.
And did you see any benefit from the World Cup? Thanks.
Marguerite Nader
Yeah. I think with respect to the holiday weekends, they were down slightly to last year.
I think that what happened is June developed, there were some fairly significant weather events that occurred Then as we headed into the July 4, and early July season, what we saw with reservation pacing was weather, but also the smoke from the Canadian wildfires having some impact over the weekend as well. So a couple of different factors And then, excuse me, with respect to the World Cup, I do not think that we saw a meaningful contribution or pickup related to World Cup just based on the location of the events.
And the location of our properties.
Analyst
Thank you. Thanks, Haendel.
Operator
Thank you. 1 moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from the line of Adam Kramer of Morgan Stanley. Your line is now open.
Adam Kramer
Hey. Great.
Good day, guys. Just wanted to ask about the membership business.
I think you wanted a I think you have you have talked to in the past about sort of prioritizing rate over sort of membership account. It looks like it is declined now.
So I just wanted to ask sort of what level is made for the right level for memberships? And at what point you know, maybe you sort of anchor back to membership count versus prioritizing rate?
Marguerite Nader
Sure. Sure.
So I think as you recall in 2024, we introduced a new dues based upgrade option. And this program allows members to commit to a higher annual due dues for a 2 to, you know, 4-year term with total upgrade costs of approximately $2,000 to $4 thousand.
Those members they look forward to that because they receive enhanced benefits really designed to increase usage of our properties. Ability to stay longer, earlier booking windows, discounts on cabin rentals, etcetera.
So that initiative that we did a couple of years ago has contributed to that strong growth in the annual dues revenue. So on a per dues paying member base, you have seen an increase of about from, I think, about $580 to almost $700 per member.
So that really reflects the success of the upgrade and the member's willingness to pay for that additional flexibility. I would say what you are seeing as you compare the TT portfolio from a few years ago is really a deliberate trade off with an emphasis on the higher rate rather than the volume.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Jason Wayne of Barclays.
Your line is now open.
Jason Wayne
Thanks for the question. So you consolidated 7 RV communities into the non core portfolio during the second quarter.
Can you just give some color on what was acquired in terms of geography mix, annual and transient and occupancy there?
Patrick Waite
Yeah. Sure.
it is Patrick. It was 7 properties.
it is about 1.4 thousand sites. 2 of the properties are in the West California and Colorado.
The balance of the properties 5 properties, are in the Southeast United States, you know, proximate or adjacent to submarkets where we already have a presence. Of the 7 properties, 5 of them and 70% of the sites were developed over the last 10 years.
So they are they are new. They have a very attractive spec.
You know, in high demand. And just with respect to the current mix of revenues, it is about 40% longer term streams at this point.
that is been increasing with our focus in our platform on the longer revenue streams, and, you know, we are optimistic, about you know, continuing to grow the long term revenue streams in that portfolio.
Jason Wayne
Thank you.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Wesley Golladay of Baird.
Your line is now open.
Wesley Golladay
Hey, everyone. I just want to go back to the comment about the positive demographic for MH.
Would you look to increase your MH expansions And if so, what is the primary constraint for doing more?
Marguerite Nader
You know, what we have done over the last few years is look at opportunities within our existing portfolio to do developments adjacent to either on with vacant land that we have or purchasing land that is vacant and adjacent next to our properties. So you will see us continue to look for opportunities within our portfolio to buy land adjacent to our properties and do those developments specifically on the on the MH side.
As Patrick pointed out, 1 example, I think that just shows you the strength of those MH developments. Thank you.
Wesley Golladay
Thank you.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Peter Abramowitz of Deutsche Bank.
Your line is now open.
Peter Abramowitz
Yes. Thank you for taking the question.
Just to go back to some of your comments about the expenses, I think you said some savings on utilities and real estate taxes. Any other commentary you could provide or color on other expense items And I guess as we think about expenses in the back half and into 2027, how much of the, I guess, expense downside relative to expectations is sustainable going into the second half in 2027?
Paul Seavey
Sure. Thanks, Peter.
So I will just speak broadly to the guidance for the full year. We have guided to expense growth generally tracks to CPI with some realized and anticipated savings from a few sources.
So when we think about our main 3, expense line items, utility payroll and r and m, those represent about 2-thirds of our core expenses, and those, we have assumption for right around the CPI increase for 2026. There is some savings off of our prior guidance as a result of our anticipated occupancy level in our transient properties.
Where we do see the relationship between our variable rent and our variable. The remaining 1-third of our expenses include real estate taxes, insurance, membership sales and marketing, and some other line items.
The full year growth rate assumption for those is in aggregate, is flat to prior year. That does include the effect of our previously disclosed insurance renewal as well as some successful real estate tax appeals that we saw in the second quarter.
As we think about going forward, I would say that you know, CPI is the key driver on the 2-thirds of our expenses as it is this year. And then the other line items, the remaining 1-third, some of that is on what we see in insurance.
that is probably been the largest driver of variability in that 1-third over the last few years.
Peter Abramowitz
Alright. Thanks for the time.
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. 1 moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from the line of David Siegel of Green Street. Your line is now open.
Analyst
I am I am trying to better understand the slow lease up pace for NH. I want to, you know, is it due to the lack of available home inventory and in properties that have demand?
Is this due to a lack of demand in the properties that have the vacant sites? Or is it still primarily related to repairing storm damage or other factors?
Patrick Waite
Yeah. I mean, I think the I would focus on 1 we have good demand.
So it is it is really driven by a recovery from you know, the storms that impacted us in 2024 and into 2025. You know, we are past that, and we are gaining momentum.
And then it is, the timing of getting inventory into the communities, which we are in the process of. And as I mentioned in a previous question, the up 70 year-to-date an occupancy perspective.
I feel like we have a favorable trend and good demand to pick up the pace as we go through the back half of the year.
Analyst
Thank you.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Jesse Lederman of Zelman.
Your line is now open.
Analyst
Hey, thanks for taking the question and good morning. Good morning.
I wanted to ask you about kind of the income profile of your renters. You have very healthy rent growth, and on the MH side, it is been a great part of the business.
Just curious what their ability to continue to absorb these 5% to 6% increases is. If you see any change in behavior, like, resident turnover or delinquency or home sales from residents compensate for these increases or, you know, anything from a resident health perspective would be great.
Thanks.
Marguerite Nader
Sure. So as you mentioned, over the last number of years, we have had increases on the MH side of about 5% with our current average rent of about $950.
But to arrive at that very top blended number every year, we put together a really detailed market survey for each property. Which includes what is happening at the customer level and how the customer is able to afford what our offerings And we compare rents in multifamily, single family rental, and other, other manufactured housing communities in the area.
And we also look at the global basis and consider how our market rates may compare to what is happening with CPI as Paul pointed out earlier. And then the prices of new and resale homes in our community.
So those are important pieces to consider. And as we can think about our long term levels of delinquency throughout our portfolio, they have been and remain very low.
Analyst
I appreciate it. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Operator
1 moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of John Kim of BMO Capital Markets.
Your line is now open.
John Kim
Thanks for taking the follow-up. When I look at your site count on page 12, the RV transient sites are now up quarter over quarter and up 20% over the last 2 years despite the uneven results.
And I know you use RV transient RV site as a front door to annual and seasonal customers. But are you seeing, like, a slower conversion rate from transient to annual seasonal, and that is why the side count keeps going up.
Marguerite Nader
Well, 1 of the reasons the site counts increased was really as a function of putting our JV properties inside of that site count. So that is really the driver of those differences.
John? And when did that happen?
That happened in the 2 quarters ago, I believe. So if you are comparing it to a couple of years ago, you that is that is the main driver of the difference.
John Kim
But is there anything about that the conversion rate or demand in annual and seasonal that is a little bit slower than it than it has been in the past?
Patrick Waite
Yeah, John. it is Patrick.
Well, we are seeing good demand on the annual front, and that is reflected in you know, occupancy growth year over year, mid 2 hundreds. And as Paul addressed, you know, a pickup in our in our guidance on the annual front.
So we see consistent demand there. The transient to your point is it is a component in addition to what Marguerite just raised, with respect to sites coming online.
A transient site's an available site for us, for longer term stays. You know, we see, 15% to 20% of our annuals and seasonal previously stayed with us as transient guests.
So it is an introduction to our property for a good chunk of our leads. And, you know, we will continue to meet that, the longer term demand.
And we are seeing it come through on the annuals, and we are optimistic about the back half of the year.
John Kim
Okay. Thanks for clarifying.
Thank you, John.
Operator
Thank you. Since we have no more questions at the line, at this time, I would like to turn it back over to Marguerite Nader for closing comments.
Marguerite Nader
Thank you for joining us today. We appreciate you taking the time to discuss our business.
Take care.
Operator
Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This is going to conclude the program.
You may now disconnect.