In the first quarter, we delivered core FFO per share of $1.26, which exceeded the high end of our guidance of $1.17.
Due to this outperformance and strong visibility into our second and third quarter transient RV bookings, we are raising our 2021 core FFO per share annual guidance range by $0.13 to $5.92 to $6.08 and our expected same community NOI growth for the full year by 190 basis points to a range of 7.5% to 8.5%.
For the quarter, same community NOI growth was 2.7% over last year, despite the continued Canadian border closure and the California stay-at-home order which dictated the closure of our California resorts through early February.
We achieved total portfolio occupancy of 97.3%, a 60 basis point improvement over the first quarter of 2020 by selling 514 revenue-producing sites.
We also delivered approximately 350 ground-up and expansion sites in the first quarter, which include the grand opening of our premier 250 site Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay Resort.
Since the beginning of the year, we have deployed $183 million into acquisitions, comprised of two manufactured housing communities, six RV resorts, and four marinas.
Furthermore, applications to live in a Sun community remain at record high levels, up 21% over this time last year.
In early March, we executed a $1.1 billion equity raise to secure capital to fund our growing acquisition pipeline and other opportunities.
With respect to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Sun has engaged with a consultancy team with 30 years of experience in the field of equality and justice.
For the first quarter, combined same community NOI increased 2.7%.
The growth in NOI was driven by a 3.5% revenue gain, supported by a 1.9% increase in occupancy to 98.8% and a 3.5 weighted average rent increase.
This was offset by a 5.5% expense increase.
Same community manufactured housing NOI increased by 4.9% from 2020 and same community RV NOI declined by 4%.
Combined, these two events had a $6 million impact on our transient RV same community revenue as compared to our previously communicated estimate of $8 million to $10 million.
Our second quarter transient forecast is already ahead of our original budget by over 20% and trending 57% higher than 2019, which we believe to be a better comparable given COVID-related disruptions in 2020.
Likewise, our third quarter transient RV forecast is currently ahead of the original budget by approximately 5% and this is trending ahead of 2019 by almost 40%.
Today, digital reservations comprise over 60% of our total reservations for our same community portfolio as compared to 60% [Phonetic] just two years ago.
Moving onto total MH and RV portfolio, in the first quarter, we gained 514 revenue-producing sites as compared to 300 in the first quarter of 2020, bringing our total portfolio occupancy to 97.3% from 96.7% a year ago.
Of our revenue-producing site gains, over 380 transient RV sites were converted to annual leases with the balance being added in our manufactured housing expansion communities.
In the first quarter, we delivered approximately 350 sites, 250 of which in the ground-up development in San Diego and 100 were in MH expansion sites at Sunset Ridge in Texas.
As of the end of the quarter, we have approximately 9,700 zoned and entitled sites in our portfolio that once built will contribute to growth in the coming years.
We sold 835 homes, an increase of 9.4% versus the first quarter of 2020.
Of these, 149 were new home sales, up over 25% and 686 were pre-owned home sales, up 6.5% as compared to the same period last year, respectively.
Average home prices for both new and pre-owned homes rose 17.6% and 9.8%, respectively, underscoring the overall geographic market mix as well as sustained demand for our product and the strong desire to live in a Sun community.
Brokered home sales throughout Sun's portfolio saw 36% increase year-over-year, as the resale market continues to show strength.
Average brokered home prices in our communities increased by over 20%, as compared to the first quarter of 2020.
During the quarter, the marina portfolio contributed over $31.4 million to total NOI.
For the first quarter, Sun reported core FFO per share of $1.26, 3.3% above the prior year and $0.09 ahead of the top-end of our first quarter guidance range.
During and subsequent to quarter-end, we acquired $183 million of operating properties comprised of two manufactured home communities, six RV resorts and four marinas.
To support our growth activities, we completed a $1.1 billion equity raise, representing approximately 8 million shares of our common stock.
To date, we have settled 4 million shares, receiving $538 million in net proceeds, which was used to pay down borrowings on our credit facility.
We expect to settle the remaining 4 million shares no later than March 2022.
We ended the first quarter with $4.4 billion of debt outstanding at a 3.4% weighted average rate and a weighted average maturity of 9.5 years.
As of March 31, we had $105 million of unrestricted cash on hand and a net debt to trailing 12-month recurring EBITDA ratio of 6.1 times.
On a pro forma basis, including the estimated full year EBITDA contribution from Safe Harbor and other acquisitions, our net debt to trailing 12-month recurring EBITDA ratio is in the low-5 times.
As a result of our outperformance during the quarter, we are raising our core FFO expectations for full-year 2021 to a range of $5.92 per share to $6.08 per share.
We expect core FFO for the second quarter to be in the range of $1.57 per share to $1.63 per share.
We are also revising full year same community NOI growth guidance to a range of 7.5% to 8.5%.

Summary:
In the first quarter, we delivered core FFO per share of $1.26, which exceeded the high end of our guidance of $1.17.
Due to this outperformance and strong visibility into our second and third quarter transient RV bookings, we are raising our 2021 core FFO per share annual guidance range by $0.13 to $5.92 to $6.08 and our expected same community NOI growth for the full year by 190 basis points to a range of 7.5% to 8.5%.
For the first quarter, Sun reported core FFO per share of $1.26, 3.3% above the prior year and $0.09 ahead of the top-end of our first quarter guidance range.
As a result of our outperformance during the quarter, we are raising our core FFO expectations for full-year 2021 to a range of $5.92 per share to $6.08 per share.
We expect core FFO for the second quarter to be in the range of $1.57 per share to $1.63 per share.