Salt Lake City and Fort Lauderdale Jump into the Top 10 for First Time; Manhattan Drops the Most to #46 in Latest PwC, ULI’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2018

LOS ANGELES (October 26, 2017) – “Smaller and Secondary” are the leading themes running through this year’s top cities in the latest Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2018, released today by PwC US and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) with Seattle taking the top spot this year, thanks to its job opportunities, diverse economy and young, educated workforce.  The city, number four last year, ends Texas’ hold as number one over the past three years with Austin (2017) down a position to number two and Dallas/Fort Worth (2016) now at number five.  Houston (2015) drops to 60, a fall attributed to the disruption in the energy industry.

Salt Lake City (#3) and Fort Lauderdale (#6) jumped into the top 10 for the first time in the study’s history as investors look to replicate the level of success found in Denver and Miami with their competitive costs of living and high quality of life.  Salt Lake City is the smallest market ever to make the top 10.

Manhattan experienced the largest year-over-year negative move to number 46, due to 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.”

The Top 10 Markets in Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2018:

1. Seattle, WA
2. Austin, TX
3. Salt Lake City, UT
4. Raleigh/Durham. NC
5. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
6. Fort Lauderdale, FL
7. Los Angeles, CA
8. San Jose, CA
9. Nashville, TN
10. Boston, MA

“The growing interest in smaller cities by real estate investors is influenced by their relative affordability, coupled with a concentration of young, skilled workers,” says Mitch Roschelle, PwC Partner and Co-Publisher of the report.  “The diverse, robust economies of these smaller cities make them very desirable to investors.”

“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.”

Top Trends from the Report Include:

• The Gen Z Effect on Retail and Work Space:  For brick and mortar stores to succeed, they will need to transform to meet the needs of the “gadgeteria” ethos of this generation with omni-channel, social media worthy shopping experiences.  Workplace design will also be affected.  Where millennials were all about collaborative, open workspaces, gen Z appears to want more structure, suggesting a return to offices (with doors) and more personal office space.
• A Housing Shortage: With millennials and gen Z numbering 150+ million and the baby boomers remaining in their homes longer, the younger generations are meeting a housing shortage, an opportunity for homebuilders willing to scale product to their preferences—smaller and more energy-efficient homes, townhouses, condos, and “affordable” starter homes.
• Multifamily Remains a Strong Investment:  With a need for more affordable rental units for the millennials and gen Z, multifamily housing prospects remain strong, especially in secondary markets like Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and Fort Lauderdale.
• Senior Housing Momentum Growing:  A demand for more senior housing tops the list of all residential segments as present inventory does not meet the needs of this group that is projected to grow by 25 million in the next 15 years.

This year’s survey was conducted before Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Now in its 39^th year, Emerging Trends in Real Estate® is one of the most highly regarded annual industry outlooks for the real estate and land use industry. It includes interviews and survey responses from more than 1,600 leading real estate experts, including investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers, advisers and consultants.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has nearly 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visit uli.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About PwC US

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. PwC is a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 223,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.

Mitch Roschelle

PwC Partner and Business Development Leader

Co-Publisher of Emerging Trends in Real Estate

Mitch Roschelle is a Partner at PwC, currently serves as one of the firm’s Business Development Leaders and co-publisher of Emerging Trends in Real Estate®, the widely-circulated annual market forecast.  He was a founder of PwC’s real estate advisory practice, and has over 30 years of experience serving a wide array of real estate investors, both foreign and domestic.  Mitch is a widely-recognized commentator on real estate, housing, capital markets, the retail industry and the economy. He is a frequent public speaker, and a regular guest and panel member on Fox Business Network, Bloomberg TV and Radio and Yahoo Finance.

Patrick L. Phillips

Global Chief Executive Officer, Urban Land Institute

Patrick L. Phillips is the Global Chief Executive Officer for the Urban Land Institute. Since taking the chief executive position in 2009, Patrick has overseen an expansion of ULI’s global reach, guiding the Institute’s focus on creating thriving communities in rapidly urbanizing countries. Under his leadership, ULI’s program of work has grown steadily to encompass a variety of economic, demographic, societal, and environmental issues that are reshaping urban development worldwide in the 21st century. A highly regarded expert on all aspects of urban design, development and community building, he is a frequent public speaker and his insights have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today among other major publications.