Real Estate Resilience: Dallas Leads the U.S. Market

This episode of the Commercial Real Estate Daily podcast is brought to you by CRE Launch Pro. If you’re looking to take your investing skills to the next level with online courses, group coaching calls, and a community of other investors, head on over to www.CreLaunchPro.com

Episode Transcript:

Today, we're taking a closer look at the resilience of Dallas in the face of challenging economic conditions, as well as the overall trends in the U.S. commercial real estate market.

Dallas, for the third consecutive year, has demonstrated its enduring appeal to property investors. It stands tall as the leader in commercial real estate investment, even amidst economic uncertainties. According to recent data from MSCI Real Assets, over the first nine months of this year, Dallas attracted a substantial $13.2 billion in real estate investments. While this figure represents a 64% decline compared to the same period last year, it's worth noting that Dallas outpaced the runner-up, Los Angeles, by more than half a billion dollars.

So, what's drawing investors to Dallas? More than 50% of the total investment volume in the city was channeled into the apartment sector, making it the preferred asset class. Industrial real estate followed closely, with $2.9 billion in transactions, and retail clocked in at $1.3 billion. These statistics, as reported by the Dallas Morning News, reflect the diversification and resilience of the Dallas real estate market.

Nationally, rising interest rates and a stricter lending environment have subdued commercial real estate investment. Total deal volume in the third quarter dipped to $89.2 billion, a significant 53% decrease compared to the previous year. This marked the fourth consecutive quarterly decline.

The impact of these challenges was widespread. All 25 markets tracked by MSCI experienced double-digit declines in the first nine months of the year. With the exception of just five markets, all others faced more than a 50% decrease in investment activity. Nationally, there was a 55% year-over-year drop, with $276.3 billion invested during the same period.

Interestingly, the office sector witnessed the smallest capital inflow, with third-quarter deal volume shrinking by 65%. Unfortunately, it's also the sector facing the most distress. Nationally, approximately $80 billion worth of commercial real estate was in distress in the third quarter, and of that, office buildings accounted for more than $32 billion.

In Dallas, there are concerns as well. About $1.4 billion worth of commercial real estate is currently distressed, and another $8.8 billion is at risk of becoming distressed due to factors such as delinquent loan payments, forbearance, or slow lease-up.

This is Tyler Cauble, Signing off