High-rising city

DFW sizzles as country’s 2nd hottest commercial real estate market for 2021

Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin are tops for commercial real estate investors.

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The eyes of Texas — and the entire world of commercial real estate — appear to be upon Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth.

In a new survey from commercial real estate services company CBRE, commercial real estate investors rank Austin first and DFW second among U.S. metro areas for investment prospects in 2021. Austin knocked Los Angeles off its previous first-place perch. DFW comes in at No. 2, with Los Angeles holding down the No. 3 spot.

Dallas-Fort Worth ranked second in 2019 and 2020, while LA ranked first in those two years. Austin appeared at No. 3 in CBRE’s 2020 survey and No. 11 in the 2019 version.

“The Sun Belt markets of Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, and Atlanta were among the top-performing metros where the least number of jobs were lost in 2020,” CBRE says in its survey findings.

For the first time in the history of the CBRE survey, big-time investors (those that manage assets of more than $50 billion) preferred smaller markets like Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth over mega-markets like New York City and San Francisco.

CBRE says markets such as Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin “will see intense competition for good-quality assets from all types of investors.”

At the same time, commercial real estate services company JLL names Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin “rising star” cities for investment in the U.S. Also in that category are Denver; Charlotte, North Carolina; Miami; Nashville; and Raleigh, North Carolina. JLL cites population growth and job growth, as well as a lower cost of living and shorter commute times than places like New York City and San Francisco, as reasons for its bullish outlook regarding “rising star” locales.

Mike McDonald, vice chairman at commercial real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield, recently told The New York Times that Austin is “the hottest market in the country right now.”

“Millennials are moving to the Sun Belt, and companies are following the millennials. Investors are following the companies,” McDonald told The Times.

It’s no surprise that Dallas-Fort Worth ranks second in the CBRE survey, says Ari Rastegar, founder and CEO of Austin-based Rastegar Property Co., which owns apartment, office, and industrial properties in U.S. markets such as Dallas and Austin.

“While Austin has become one of the fastest-growing tech hubs globally, Dallas has long been the financial center of the state and Sun Belt region, benefiting from the tremendous … educational institutions that are located throughout the metro,” Rastegar says.

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Elite address

One Texas community makes list of the richest small towns in America

Photo courtesy of Compass

Bunker Hill Village is a coveted address in the Houston area.

An upscale community in Texas is among the top 10 richest towns in America, according to a new 2024 report. The community is Bunker Hill Village in Houston, and it's home to the richest residents in Texas. Sorry, Colonial Hills.

The analysis, by loan provider TitleMax, lists the 50 richest small towns — one from each state — using median household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In Bunker Hill Village, the median household income is about $250,000, the report says.

Of course, "small town" is a bit of a misnomer for Bunker Hill Village. Situated 13 miles west of downtown Houston, Bunker Hill joins five other communities – Hunters Creek, HiIlshire, Hedwig, Piney Point, and Spring Valley – to make up Houston's iconic Memorial Villages. In 2023, Bunker Hill was ranked the third-most expensive Houston neighborhood, with homes on the market for upwards of $2.7 million.

Notably, the area is home to Houston's only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house.

"We are very proud of our quiet, wooded environment, and as a community, we work hard to preserve it for future generations," the city's website says.

The study found that more than half (56.5 percent) of the 1,250-home community make over $200,000 a year, while the enclave's median household income amounts to $247,188.

To put that into perspective, TitleMax revealed that the national median household income is $67,521. The Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey estimates the median income of a household in Texas came out to $75,780 in 2023.

Bunker Hill joins the likes of Houston's Bellaire and West University Place as some of the most affluent suburbs in America. The North Texas suburb of Southlake also made it on that list.

The No. 1 slot went to Monte Sereno, a suburb of San Jose, California with a median household income of more than $250,000, according to the report.

"While many people consider cities to be the epicenters of the rich, many retreat to small towns that offer safety, beauty, and privacy," the report's author wrote.

These are the top 10 wealthiest small towns in America, with their median household incomes:

No. 1 – Monte Sereno, California ($250,000-plus)
No. 2 – Cherry Hills Village, Colorado ($250,000-plus)
No. 3 – Mission Hills, Kansas ($250,000-plus)
No. 4 – Short Hills, New Jersey ($250,000-plus)
No. 5 – Scarsdale, New York ($250,000-plus)
No. 6 – Belle Meade, Tennessee ($250,000-plus)
No. 7 – Glencoe, Illinois ($248,851)
No. 8 – Bunker Hill Village, Texas ($247,188)
No. 9 – Clyde Hill, Washington ($238,958)
No. 10 – Chevy Chase Village, Maryland ($238,333)

The full report can be found on titlemax.com.

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