Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Kansas City’s Real Estate Market Emerging Trends

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) released its “2011 Emerging Trends in Real Estate” report last month. The report grades the country’s major metropolitan areas on investment and development opportunities. It is no surprise that very few markets are seen as “markets to watch.” Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco and Austin top the list as the best markets for commercial/multifamily investment and development. Out of the largest 51 metros in the country, Kansas City ranked in the bottom third. ULI’s report considers Kansas City a “modestly poor” investment prospect and a poor development prospect.
In looking at the prospects for these large metros, it does appear that things fare better in the traditional big cities on the coasts, like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco-San Jose and Washington, D.C. Texas metros appear to be emerging, as does Denver, but most of the non-coastal metros have poor prospects.
Kansas City has never really been a trendsetter when it comes to real estate prospects, but its poor showing in the ULI report is still somewhat concerning. Markets that are perceived as established or emerging global cities are attracting the real estate development and investment while the secondary markets are being overlooked. If this perception is not changed, the gap between the hot, trendy markets and colder, secondary markets will widen.

No comments: