Brian J. McDade
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Simon Property Group
Thank you, David, and good morning. Real estate FFO was $3.05 per share in the third quarter compared to $2.91 in the prior year, a 4.8% growth rate. Domestic and international operations had a very good quarter and contributed $0.15 of growth, driven by a 3% increase in lease income. Third quarter funds from operation were $1.07 billion, or $2.84 per share, as compared to $1.2 billion, or $3.20 per share last year. Third quarter results include $0.13 per share of non-cash net loss and fair-value adjustments from the mark-to-market on the Klepierre exchangeable bonds we issued in November of '23, which mature in November of 2026. The non-cash loss on derivative is due to the outperformance of Klepierre's stock price, which increased 18% during the third quarter. As a result of the stock appreciation, the market value of our Klepierre investment increased by approximately $400 million during the third quarter.
OPI was an $0.08 loss in the quarter due to reduced discretionary spending by the lower-income consumer at two SPARC brands and also from the loss of income from ABG in the prior year due to the sale of our interest earlier this year. As a reminder, the prior-year results include $0.32 per share in non-cash gains from the partial sale of our ownership in SPARC in the third quarter of '23.
Domestic NOI increased 5.4% year-over-year for the quarter due to continued leasing momentum, resilient consumer spending, and operational excellence delivered the results exceeding our plan for the quarter. Portfolio NOI, which includes our international properties at constant currency, grew 5% for the quarter. Malls and outlet occupancy at the end of the third quarter was 96.2%, an increase of 1% compared to the prior year. The mills occupancy was 98.6% at the end of the quarter. Average base minimum rent for the malls and outlets increased 2.3% year-over-year and the mills increased 4.5% year-over-year.
Leasing momentum continued across the portfolio. We signed approximately 1,200 leases for 4 million square feet in the quarter. Through the first nine months of 2024, we have signed more than 3,900 leases for 15 million square feet, which is expected to generate more than $1 billion of revenue. We have an additional 1,800 deals in our pipeline, including renewals for more than $600 million of revenue. We continue to see strong broad-based demand from the retail community, including continued strength for many categories.
Reported retailer sales per square-foot was $737 for the mall and premium outlets combined and was up approximately 1% year-over-year, excluding two retailers. Importantly, total sales volumes, excluding those same two retailers, were up approximately 1.5% year-over-year. At the end of the quarter, our occupancy cost was 12.8%.
Turning to new development and redevelopment. We opened Tulsa Premium Outlets on August 15 at a 100% leased and we've also -- we also opened a significant expansion at Busan Premium Outlets in South Korea in September. At the end of the quarter, new development and redevelopment projects were underway across all platforms in the U.S. and internationally, with our share of net cost of $1.3 billion at a blended yield of 8%.
Turning to other platform investments. Our OPI results for the third quarter at SPARC underperformed as the lower-income consumer continues to be more cautious in their spending. We first highlighted the inflationary impact in the second half of 2022 relative to this consumer. Performance was below expectations at Forever 21 and Reebok. SPARC and JCPenney did, however, record sequential improvements in comp sales during the third quarter, which sets these brands up well for the important upcoming holiday season. We are not sitting still and we expect to have some positive announcements by year end with respect to these businesses.
Turning to our balance sheet. During the quarter, we amended and extended our $3.5 billion supplemental revolving credit facility for three years on existing terms. We also issued $1 billion in senior notes with a term of 10 years and a 4.75% interest rate. This was clearly good timing on our part. During the first nine months of the year, we completed refinancings of 14 property mortgages for a total of approximately $1.3 billion at an average rate of 6.13%. We ended the quarter with approximately $11.1 billion of liquidity. And at the end of the quarter on October -- subsequent to the end of the quarter on October 1, we repaid our last remaining unsecured maturity for 2024 of $900 million.
We constantly innovate in both our physical and digital worlds to create world-class convenience for our shoppers and drive incremental sales for our brand partners. In continuing this effort and building upon the success of Shop Premium Outlets, we rebranded our digital marketplace ShopSimon to take advantage of all of our assets, including shop or e-mail lists totaling over 25 million customers. The expanded and rebranded digital marketplace adds on-sale and discounted merchandise, while continuing to offer outlet products from leading brands. This is the next phase in our journey to create the ultimate omnichannel experience.
We also launched a new nationwide marketing campaign, Meet Me @themall. The campaign celebrates the shopping mall's continued cachet as the go-to destination for all generations.
Turning to our dividend. Today, we announced our dividend of $2.10 per share for the fourth quarter, a year-over-year increase of 10.5%. The dividend is payable on December 30. This is the fourth consecutive quarter we have increased our dividend and the dividend is now back to our pre-pandemic record high.
Finally turning to guidance. We are affirming our guidance range of $12.80 to $12.90 per share, which excludes $0.14 per share year-to-date impact of the non-cash loss and fair-value adjustments from the mark-to-market on the Klepierre for bonds, which prior to the third quarter was only a $0.01 non-cash loss, but is now $0.14 and needed to be highlighted.
With that, thank you for your time today. David and I are now available for your questions. Operator?