NAR: Utah City Ranks Highest in U.S. for Commercial Real Estate Demand

St. George, UT ranks as the No.1 overall metro area for demand, according to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) inaugural Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Demand Index. The Utah city posted an overall score of 128, with multifamily as the strongest driver.

The newly introduced quarterly index of 306 U.S. metro areas measures where demand is building across office, industrial, retail and multifamily sectors. Rather than measuring current property-market conditions such as vacancy rates, rents or leasing activity, the index focuses on local economic conditions that can generate demand for commercial space and provides an early view of market trends before they are reflected in traditional commercial real estate indicators such as leasing activity and vacancy rates, according to NAR.

“Commercial real estate demand begins with what’s happening in the local economy,” said Nadia Evangelou, principal economist & director of real estate research at NAR. “Demand starts before a lease is signed. It starts with jobs and people. The CRE Demand Index helps identify those trends earlier, before they’re reflected in traditional market indicators.”

According to the index, South Carolina ranks as the nation’s strongest state for CRE demand, reflecting continued momentum across the Carolinas. Accordingly, Raleigh, NC ranks highest among the 50 largest metro areas with a score of 121.

Read More News Stories About: National Association of Realtors

Connect

Inside The Story

National Association of Realtors

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

Order Reprints