Former HUD Secretary Cisneros Identifies Investment Potential of U.S. Cities in New Book

In this new book published by ULI, former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros identifies potential for real estate investment in 45 metropolitan areas that exist on a spectrum of strong, weak, and mixed prospects for economic growth.

In Urban Real Estate Investment: A New Era of Opportunity, Cisneros offers an innovative and nuanced analysis of major U.S. cities by merging pre-existing data sets: quantitative performance indicators measuring economic output and demographic trends and a qualitative, city-by-city ranking based on surveys and interviews with real estate developers and investors. Developed by an independent research firm, the quantitative indicators include each city’s unemployment rate; changes in population; and job, income, and GDP growth. The city-by-city ranking is based upon the “U.S. Markets to Watch” section of Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2014®, produced jointly by ULI and PwC. This ranking is based on survey responses and in-depth interviews with leading real estate professionals.

Cisneros examines cities that appear in both data sets and groups them into four broad categories: consensus strongest, mixed rankings with strong measures; mixed rankings with weak measures; and consensus weakest.

Additionally, Cisneros identifies and explores 13 trends that are positively impacting U.S. cities, including the importance of building for sustainability, harnessing the power of advanced industries and anchor institutions, adding transit-related value, and encouraging mixed-income housing positively.

Learn more here.