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Grass Still Relatively Greener in Local Real Estate Pastures
Greg Barr
Houston Business Journal

Houston’s real estate market continues to be considered as a comparative land of opportunity in the “2009 Global Real Estate Forecast” issued by Grubb & Ellis Co.

The Bayou City stood out in the Grubb & Ellis Investment Opportunity Monitor, which identifies U.S. markets as the most likely targets for real estate investors over the next five years. Markets were ranked on a scale from zero to 100 using more than a couple of dozen property, economic and demographic variables.

Texas markets fared well for investment in most real estate sectors based on projections for strong population growth over the next five years.

Some numbers pulled from the forecast illustrate expectations in the industrial, retail, office and residential sectors.

• Houston placed high in the investment forecast for the industrial real estate segment. The city came in second with a score of 75.7, while Los Angeles topped the list with a 78.7 score. The only other Texas city ranked in the industrial category was Dallas, which was in 6th place with a score of 62.6.

• Three Texas cities placed in the U.S. retail market strength forecast that projected the Top 10 markets for 2009 through 2013. Houston ranked No. 3 with a 69.7 score. Los Angeles County came in No. 1 with 73.8, followed by Washington, D.C., with 72.7. Dallas ranked fourth with 66 and Austin ranked eighth with 59.2.

• The Texas trio took slots five through seven in the forecast for office building investment. Austin landed the fifth spot with 65.1, Dallas was No. 6 with 63.4, and Houston ranked seventh with 62.2. The top three U.S. markets for the office category were Washington, D.C., Portland and Los Angeles County.

• No Texas city appeared on the multihousing market investment forecast, which was topped by three California markets: Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County.

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