Phoenix advanced three spots to #11 on the list of most attractive metro for commercial real estate investment, tying with San Diego, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Philadelphia, according to survey respondents of CBRE’s 2018 Americas Investor Intentions Survey. 

The survey, which covered all asset types, shows that 88 percent of investors plan to either maintain or increase spending in 2018—up from 83 percent in 2017.

The survey also looked at how investors view each of the different asset types:

• Industrial – Industrial is increasingly the preferred property type, cited by 50 percent of investors as the most attractive for investment in 2018, up from 38 percent in 2017.

• Multifamily – Cited by 20 percent of investors, multifamily is the next most attractive property types, though its share decreased from last year.

• Office: Fourteen percent of investors said they are planning to invest in office product in 2018.

• Retail: Despite competition from e-commerce, the retail sector improved modestly from last year (10 percent in 2018 vs. 8 percent in 2017).

“Commercial real estate investment activity was healthy in 2017, reaching $8.8 billion,” said Jessica Glick, senior research analyst with CBRE Phoenix. “In line with national trends, industrial and logistics was the darling asset class for investors, with deal flow increasing 7 percent from 2016. This was followed closely by multifamily, then office and retail. Although there was a slight dip in the number of office deals last year, dollar volume increased year-over-year due to the execution of a few larger transactions.”

The survey also provided insight into how investors view the growing trend of co-working. At 20 percent of a building’s total space, more than 90 percent of investors see co-working as having a positive or neutral effect on a building’s long-term capital value. However, more than half of the respondents said that once co-working space climbs to 40 percent or more of a building’s total space, it adversely affects valuations.

“Despite the possibility of escalating interest rates, the vast majority of investors intend to acquire assets in the Americas in 2018. Risk tolerance is expected to remain unchanged, but investors’ search for yield and asset diversification is pushing them toward value-add assets, secondary markets and alternatives in 2018,” said Brian McAuliffe, President, Institutional Properties, Capital Markets, CBRE.