Our first quarter was strong with an NOI growth rate of 5.2%.
We saw strong demand on the MH side of the business, with a 4.9% increase in rental revenue.
We wrapped up our snowbird season and have a total RV revenue growth rate of 4.8%.
The drivers in that revenue were a 7.4% growth rate in annual revenue, a 7% growth rate in seasonal revenue and a 7.6% decline in transient revenue.
We have an occupancy rate of 95% in our core portfolio.
Our overall occupancy consists of less than 6% renters.
In 2019, 33% of all home sales were the result of a renter conversion.
In April, we saw continued strength in MH platform, with 96% of our residents paying us timely.
80% of our RV revenue is longer term in nature and 20% come from our Transient customers.
For the first quarter, the annual revenue grew by 7.4%, comprised of 5.8% rate and 1.6% occupancy.
This year the opening of 46 of our RV resorts has been delayed until at least the end of April.
Our seasonal revenue stream comes from customers who have a reservation of 30 days or more.
Our seasonal revenue primarily comes from our sunbelt locations with 70% of the revenue generated between November and March.
The first quarter, which represents half of the full year anticipated seasonal revenue grew by 7%.
The second quarter seasonal revenue is generally our slowest quarter with approximately 15% of the overall seasonal revenue in 2019, occurring in the second quarter.
Our transient business represents under 6% of our total revenue.
Towards the end of March, we stopped accepting transient reservations for the remainder of March and all of April.
For the first quarter we reported $0.59 normalized FFO per share.
Core MH rent growth of 4.9% includes 4.4% rate growth and approximately 50 basis points related to occupancy gains.
Our transient revenues, which were pacing ahead of guidance through February ended the quarter down 7.6% compared to last year.
Dues revenues increased 6.1% as a result of rate increases and an increase in our paid member count of 4.3%.
During the quarter we sold approximately 3,200 Thousand Trails camping passes.
We upgraded 727 members during the quarter, 15% more than the first quarter last year.
In summary, first quarter core property operating revenues were up 5.4% and core NOI before property management increased 5.2%.
Property operating income from the non-core portfolio, which includes our Marina portfolio, as well as assets acquired during 2019 was $2.8 million in the quarter.
Other income and expenses generated the net contribution of $1.4 million for the quarter.
Interest and related amortization was $26.1 million and includes the impact of the refinancing we completed during the quarter.
In our MH properties, we've collected 96% of April rent.
The collection rate is net of approximately $180,000 of rent deferral requests we've approved.
Our largest population within the MH portfolio age qualified properties have the highest collection rate at 97% collected.
Our renter population, while a very small portion of our portfolio, has the lowest rate of collection with approximately 91% collected.
As detailed in the update, 46 of these properties have delayed openings, which has affected typical payment patterns.
To-date, we have collected approximately 61% of the April and May annual RV renewals as compared to 71% collected at this time last year.
However, we also saw customers extend their stays and are currently showing a revenue decline of 12% in April.
While terms and conditions are substantially similar to the expiring policies, adverse market conditions resulted in a higher than expected premium increase of 27%.
The resulting insurance expense for the remainder of the year is approximately $1.1 million higher than our expectation.
During the quarter, we closed a $275.4 million secured facility with Fannie Mae.
The loan is a fixed interest rate of 2.69%.
With the proceeds, we've repaid our secured debt maturing in 2020, which carried a weighted average interest rate of 5.2% and the outstanding balance in our line of credit.
That said, current secured financing terms available for MH and RV assets range from 55% to 75% LTV, with rates from 3% to 3.75% for 10-year money.
As noted on our COVID-19 update page, we have a current available cash balance of $126 million with no debt maturing in 2020.
Our debt to EBITDA and our interest coverage are both around 4.9 times.
The weighted average maturity of our outstanding secured debt is almost 13 years.

Summary:
Towards the end of March, we stopped accepting transient reservations for the remainder of March and all of April.
For the first quarter we reported $0.59 normalized FFO per share.