Dallas led all U.S. markets in commercial property investment in 2020, seeing $19.7 billion in sales volume over the course of the year.
That’s according to Real Capital Analytics’ (RCA) year-end U.S. Big Picture Report, which noted that strong portfolio activity in the apartment and industrial segments helped push Dallas to the top position for the first time.
Barring portfolio activity, Los Angeles would have found its way to the top spot, boosted by the strength of its industrial sector. As it stands, the City of Angels will have to settle for second place, with $18.9 billion in sales for the full year of 2020.
Boston, with $15.6 billion in sales, was third, followed by Atlanta, with $14.4 billion. Both cities, which were fourth and fifth, respectively, in deal volume through September, came on strong at the end of the year to overtake Manhattan, which fell to fifth — its lowest ranking on record.
The biggest jump up the 2020 table, though, belongs to Raleigh/Durham, which vaulted 13 positions to end the year at 17th. Portfolio sales helped the North Carolina metro rise up the rankings, with the market among the few to log growth in full-year office deal volume.
Notably, despite much enthusiasm among investors regarding Austin’s prospects as a tech hub, Texas’ capital fell farthest in 2020’s ranking. Growth in the city’s ranking within the multifamily and lodging sectors couldn’t stop it from tumbling six positions to fall to 19th.
Also of note is that overall weakness across all commercial sectors in 2020 caused every city in 2020’s top 25 most active markets to see a year-over-year decline in deal volume. In this metric, Raleigh/Durham again fares best, backtracking just 1% from 2019. Three cities in the top 25 saw negative annual growth of at least 50%: Manhattan (down 50% from 2019), Austin (-52%) and Seattle (-59%).
