D-FW has once again claimed the top spot among the nation’s most promising real estate markets, extending its streak to three consecutive years.
The Metroplex ranked No. 1 in the Urban Land Institute and PwC’s recently released Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2027 report, an annual industry outlook drawing on insights from real estate investors, developers, lenders, and professional advisers in the United States and Canada.
According to the report, major corporate investments, improving commercial property fundamentals, and ambitious infrastructure projects are helping sustain momentum even as the national real estate industry grapples with elevated borrowing costs and economic uncertainty.
“It’s no shock that ‘Bigger in Dallas’ remains the top market to watch,” wrote report contributor Cushman & Wakefield, pointing to the optimism surrounding Dallas’ growing prominence as a financial services hub under its Y’all Street branding.
The Texas Stock Exchange began trading operations in July, joining NYSE Texas and Nasdaq Texas in establishing a presence in the Metroplex’s flagship city. Cushman & Wakefield also highlighted two major projects taking shape in Uptown: Goldman Sachs’ upcoming campus and Morgan Stanley’s planned regional hub.
“These are operating centers, not satellite offices, and they bring high-wage jobs that require premium space and amenities,” the report reads.
Both projects stand to strengthen a regional office market that has struggled with elevated vacancies since the COVID-19 pandemic. D-FW’s Class A office vacancy rate remains high at 24.8%, but it has declined 190 basis points from its first-quarter 2025 peak. The market has also recorded seven consecutive quarters of positive net absorption totaling 3.8 million square feet.
Conversions, demolitions, and owner-occupant purchases, however, have removed 7.3 million square feet from the region’s office inventory, reducing the amount of underperforming space, according to the report. Meanwhile, Class A asking rents are nearly 25% above pre-pandemic levels, with top-tier properties commanding premiums approximately 30% higher.
North Texas’ large industrial sector is also demonstrating renewed strength following an earlier wave of speculative development. Industrial construction has increased from 19.9 million square feet in the first quarter of 2025 to 30.6 million square feet, while the region’s vacancy rate has fallen 250 basis points from its post-pandemic peak to 7.3%.
The figures reinforce North Texas’ emergence as a national logistics powerhouse. D-FW recently ranked fifth nationally among industrial growth markets, with the Metroplex adding more than 121,000 logistics jobs between 2014 and 2024.
Data centers represent another major opportunity, although the report identified electricity availability as an issue. Cushman & Wakefield ranked Dallas the world’s leading primary data center market in its 2026 global comparison, but the firm warned that power constraints and new regulations could complicate future expansion.
Despite their growing economic importance, data centers have become an increasingly contentious subject across D-FW (and really the rest of the country), with residents and elected officials raising concerns about their electricity demands, water consumption, noise, and proximity to neighborhoods.
The report also pointed to the proposed arena-anchored mixed-use districts involving the Mavericks at the former Valley View Center and the Stars at the now-closed Shops at Willow Bend. While neither project is entirely set in stone in terms of development site, both are examples of how major investment can reshape aging commercial properties.
Nationally, however, the report’s outlook is more cautious. The report’s theme, “You Have to Work for It,” reflects an environment in which investment opportunities are becoming increasingly dependent on individual properties, local regulations, financing conditions, and neighborhood-level demand rather than broad regional growth.
“Capital is available, debt markets are functioning and repricing could create attractive entry points, but higher borrowing costs and greater variation across sectors and submarkets are raising the bar for execution,” said Andrew Alperstein, national real estate leader at PwC’s Financial Markets & Real Estate practice. “In 2027, success will be less about making a broad sector bet and more about choosing the right asset, in the right market, with the right operating strategy.”
Behind D-FW, Nashville, Miami, Raleigh-Durham, and San Francisco rounded out the top five markets to watch, while Houston placed sixth.
