Best-ever showing: Austin near top in ULI annual real estate report

Austin is the second-best real estate market in the country. That's the assessment of the Urban Land Institute, which published its annual "Emerging Trends in Real Estate" report Wednesday.

The report is based on interviews with real estate investment experts around the world and is prepared in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Austin has had a strong showing the past four years, but the outlook for 2015 is the best ever, especially for a secondary market. For specific sectors, Austin is ranked No. 2 for investment, No. 4 for development and No. 1 for homebuilding.

Of particular note is the fact that Austin ranked No. 1 for office investment and development — which has to be good news to active office developers including Endeavor Real Estate Group, Cousins Properties, HPI Real Estate Services and Investment, Stream Realty Partners, Karlin Real Estate Group, Ryan Cos. and Brandywine Realty Trust. All have major office projects under construction.

The market that beat out Austin in all sectors is neighboring Houston. Dallas/Fort Worth came in at No. 5 while San Antonio was way down the list at No. 23.

"Austin has been a favorite of survey respondents for a number of years," the report states. "Survey respondents and interviewees like the industrial base, the appeal to the millennial generation and the lower cost of doing business in Austin."

Supply concerns potentially could have a negative impact for investors of industrial, hospitality and multifamily properties, the report added.

Austin also earns kudos for the strong representation of investors and developers that are locally based.

Jan Buchholz covers commercial and residential real estate, construction and architecture and retail and restaurants for the Austin Business Journal.