April 23 (Reuters) - Real estate investment trust Equity

Residential ( EQR ), which owns and manages apartments across

the U.S., beat first-quarter FFO estimates on Tuesday due to

strong rental demand and relatively lower supply in East Coast

markets such as New York and Boston.

While rental supply remains elevated across the U.S., the

supply pressure relative to demand is less acute on the East

Coast as opposed to the Sunbelt region, which includes cities

such as Austin and Los Angeles.

About 95% of Equity Residential's ( EQR ) net income has been coming

from its established markets, where supply levels are more

stable, with the company's customers on average spending about

20% of their income on rent.

"The positive demand dynamics in our affluent renter

demographic, limited new apartment supply in our existing

predominantly coastal markets and our laser focus on expense

management continue to produce good results," said CEO Mark

Parrell.

The percentage of residents renewing their leases in the

first quarter dropped to 4.7%, compared with 6.2% last year,

while physical occupancy marginally increased to at 96.3%.

Equity Residential ( EQR ) reported funds from operations (FFO) of

93 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31, compared with

analysts' estimate of 91 cents per share, according to LSEG

data.

The company's quarterly same-store revenue increased about

4% from a year ago.