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Top 10 Markets to Buy Multifamily in 2021

Written by Joe Fairless | Jan 13, 2021 9:27:18 AM

Each year, PwC and the Urban Land Institute releases their annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate report. The report “provides an outlook on real estate investment and development trends, real estate finance and capital markets, property sectors, metropolitan areas, and other real estate issues through the United States and Canada.”

To create the forecast report, PwC interviews and surveys thousands of active real estate professionals.

One of the multifamily-related highlights of the report is a list of “buy/hold/sell” recommendations. For each US real estate market, real estate professionals are asked best cities to buy multifamily homes to provide their recommendations to multifamily investors.

Should you buy multifamily in the market? Should you hold current multifamily investments in the market? Or should you sell your current investments in the market?

Here is a breakdown of the 10 cities with the most “buy” recommendations for 2021.

1. Raleigh/Durham, NC

  • Buy: 72%
  • Hold: 20%
  • Sell: 8%

2. Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL

  • Buy: 68%
  • Hold: 30%
  • Sell: 2%

3. Salt Lake City, UT

  • Buy: 67%
  • Hold: 27%
  • Sell: 6%

4. Austin, TX

  • Buy: 62%
  • Hold: 26%
  • Sell: 12%

5. Boston, MA

  • Buy: 60%
  • Hold: 32%
  • Sell: 8%

6. Boise, ID

  • Buy: 60%
  • Hold: 34%
  • Sell: 6%

7. Nashville, TN

  • Buy: 59%
  • Hold: 37%
  • Sell: 4%

8. Charlotte, NC

  • Buy: 56%
  • Hold: 36%
  • Sell: 8%

9. San Antonio, TX

  • Buy: 55%
  • Hold: 35%
  • Sell: 10%

10. Columbus, OH

  • Buy: 55%
  • Hold: 45%
  • Sell: 0% 

In addition to the 10 best multifamily markets above, at least 50% of survey respondents provided a “buy” recommendation for five additional cities – Washington, DC (54%), Fort Lauderdale, FL (53%), Atlanta, GA (53%), Phoenix, AZ (52%), and Inland Empire, CA (51%). A minority of survey respondents provided a “buy” recommendation on all other markets in the US.

Final thoughts: “What should I do if my market isn’t on this list? Should I sell? Should I invest somewhere else?

I think that it depends. Just because a best state to buy multifamily properties market isn’t on this list doesn’t mean it is a bad market. But it might be!

Also, just because your market is on this list doesn’t mean EVERY deal in that market is a good deal.

Overall, the target investment best place to buy multifamily more is important but it is not the end-all be-all. What is more important is how you buy. To learn more on how to buy right, click here to learn about my three immutable laws of real estate investing.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell any securities or to make or consider any investment or course of action.