LOS ANGELES – (Realty News Report) – Houston, after being the top real estate market in the nation in 2015, has dropped all the way to No. 60 in the Urban Land Institute’s ranking and evaluation of the nation’s best places for investment opportunity.
Seattle earned the top spot. Austin, which had been the leader for the last three years, fell to No. 2 and Dallas was No. 5.
The rankings are a part of the ULI’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, an annual research piece based on input from hundreds of leaders in commercial real estate development, finance and brokerage, along with fund managers, lenders and advisors. The report is produced by ULI in conjunction with PwC US.
The report noted that smaller and secondary market are gaining favor with investors. Along with Houston, Manhattan took a nosedive, dropping to No. 46. Because of “the high cost of assets and over-saturation of construction in the area, with what many interviewed said were “too many cranes in the skyline.”
On the other hand, Salt Lake City, jumped to No. 3 as the smallest city ever to be in the Emerging Trends Top Ten.
“The trend of smaller markets displacing larger ones as investment hubs is setting a new course for urban development that is reshaping cities across the nation,” said ULI Global Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Phillips. “These cities are positioning themselves as highly competitive, in terms of livability, employment offerings, and recreational and cultural amenities.”
The report was released Thursday at the ULI Fall Meeting in Los Angeles.
Houston’s big drop was attributed to disruption in the energy industry, which brought on layoffs and a rise in vacancy and increase in sublease office space.
Editor’s Note – Realty News Report is staffing this important event and will be filing updated news.