April 29(Reuters) - Essex Property Trust ( ESS ) on

Tuesday reported first-quarter core funds from operations (FFO)

above Wall Street estimates, helped by strong housing demand in

Northern California.

The multifamily residential property company, which develops

and maintains apartments in West coast markets, has said in the

past that it expects housing demand to accelerate in Northern

California on the back of AI-related job growth.

The company maintains a portfolio of about 62,000 apartment

units in Washington and California.

It expects second-quarter core FFO between $3.90 and $4.02

per share, compared to expectations of $3.99 per share.

On a same-property basis, first quarter net operating income

in Southern California rose 3.7% year-over-year, compared to

4.3% in Northern California.

The California-based REIT reported a quarterly core FFO of

$3.97 per share, compared with analysts' estimate of $3.93 per

share.