What's that sound in the distance, could it be the distant rumblings of a real estate recovery? The economy is still in flux but there are reasons to be hopeful. U.S. News & World Report
has compiled a list of cities that may escape the tremendous dip in commercial real estate and be on their way to a full scale recovery. The data comes from REIS, a real estate research firm and looks at retail and office vacancy rates in the 79 biggest metro areas factoring in projections for 2010. Some of the entries on the list might surprise you (or at least they surprised me). Washington D.C. isn't shocking but Pittsburgh, Tulsa and Louisville, Kentucky are all on the list. It seems that in the commercial real estate game the smaller cities have fared better.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Todd Henkel Sep 1st 2009 9:24PM
As a former resident of the Tulsa area, I am not surprised to see it on the list. A few things to note though.
First, Tulsa did not experience the real estate boom like the rest of the country. And the "crash" was not as bad either. I can attest to this having refinanced during the boom and sold during the crash. Not much gained, not much lost. It just took longer during the crash to sell.
In general, the economy is not bullish there but stable. And recent visits showed considerable activity above the norm for Tulsa. Many upbeat, promising developments.
I do take issue with the "energy economy" there though. While there are still a good number of energy companies and will continue to be, considerable brain drain has occurred over the years as companies migrate to Houston.