Study Pinpoints Best U.S. Marketsfor R. E Investing

The top U.S. markets for real estate investment prospects next year are global gateway metros such as New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco, says the Urban Land Institute and Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2007,an annual outlook for U.S. real estate investment and development trends.

In spite of real estate’s unusually long run up in prices and sales, interest from investors hasn’t waned.

"Real estate is still viewed favorably as an asset class and there’s still a lot of money — especially from private funds and institutional investors — looking for the right opportunity," says William Croteau, U.S. real estate practice leader for Pricewaterhouse Coopers. "Although we don't expect any major downturn in the marketplace, it's likely that real estate's overall performance will be more modest in 2007."

Location Still Rules

Most promising? The report says it’s “investment Meccas on both coasts,” noting that “location becomes even more important in real estate investing as the transforming global economy increasingly determines where companies and people need and want to be.”

In addition to being located along “global pathways” with international airports and harbor ports, top markets are characterized by:

24-hour features
Attractive settings in reasonably comfortable climates
Geographic barriers limiting sprawl
Brainpower jobs attracting an affluent, highly educated workforce

Although a number of cities in the South and Southwest, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix, are described as “development magnets,” because of the amount of current new construction, the report says “their tendency toward oversupply compromises their standing with investors."

Sunbelt development havens consistently fall behind global gateways for investment prospects, even as their economies continue to grow, the report says. They remain relatively affordable, but these areas lack strong 24-hour cores and mass transit systems. In addition, their locations away from coasts "make them secondary destinations for international business.”

— By Camilla McLaughlin for REALTOR® Magazine Online