Investors set sights on rising star cities in the Sun Belt and Mountain West
While gateway cities will always remain attractive, residents and investment shift towards Sun Belt markets
March 25, 2021
CHICAGO – Mar. 25, 2021 – Gateway cities have and always will be attractive from both a resident and investor standpoint. However, the pandemic has accelerated migration trends to a handful of rising star cities and as a result, investors are following suit.
Growth markets such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Nashville and Raleigh have witnessed 10-year population growth between 10-30%, outpacing the 2010-2020 U.S. population growth of 7.1%. Residents are drawn to a lower cost of living, a lower average commute time and amenities that are now rivaling gateway markets.
As a result of this growth and macro trends, the job recovery has been nearly twice as fast in these markets and we are seeing industry clusters develop in the tech, life sciences, media, professional services and finance/insurance sectors.
“Companies are partially drawn to these growth markets for savings, given these markets boast an average cost of doing business index score of 94 compared to 127 in gateway markets, which is driven largely by corporate taxes being 65% lower on average,” Lauro Ferroni, Senior Director, JLL Research stated. “In addition, many of these cities are home to large universities that continuously supply a source of skilled talent.”
