Fort Lauderdale ranks as top US city for real estate investment

A new report ranks Fort Lauderdale as the sixth top city for real estate investment.

The city jumped 29 spots in PwC US and Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate this year. The report surveys more than 1,600 real estate investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lender, brokers and others in the industry on job growth, economy, and industries setting up shop.

A booming population helped boost Fort Lauderdale’s standing. A quarter of the population is between ages 15 and 34, according to the report.

Of all real estate sectors, Fort Lauderdale scored the lowest for hotel investment. It’s also only the 54th market to watch for homebuilding prospects. Indianapolis led in that category at No. 1.

Fort Lauderdale scored highest for multifamily with an investment prospect score of 3.77, followed closely by industrial, which scored 3.64 on a scale of 1 to 5. Housing received a score of 3.56, followed by retail with 3.4 and office with 3.35. The experts who were surveyed took into account investor demand, capital availability, development opportunities, public/private investments and the local development community.

New development in Fort Lauderdale includes the newly completed Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach, which is expected to sell out for about $210 million, and developer Jimmy Tate’s plan for Bahia Mar, a major mixed-use project.

Just last week, Miami-based Banyan Street Capital paid $81.5 million for an office tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale, marking the first major office sale in the city in months.

Miami also moved up from the previous year, ranking 11th from 25th.