MIAMI—Much of the South Florida commercial real estate talk revolves around Miami. That makes good sense with the likes of Brickell CityCentre, Miami WorldCenter and other transforming projects underway in the urban core.

But Fort Lauderdale is not going unnoticed on the radar screens of commercial real estate developers and investors. In fact, Fort Lauderdale has hit its stride.

“Beyond the basic fundamentals of a growing economy, low interest rates, and availability of debt and equity, there are a number of reasons that the commercial investment sales volume has been so strong in Fort Lauderdale, David Duckworth, vice president of Avison Young, tells GlobeSt.com. Specifically, he points out recent history.

“There was a segment of the market that made opportunistic purchases in 2010-2012 with the plan of selling once markets stabilized,” Duckworth says. “Those investment groups doubled— or in some cases tripled—their money and decided to take their chips off the table.”

Yet, there is still more. According to Duckworth, there were also a number of owners that wanted to sell, but were unwilling or unable to sell at the depressed values that the market would bear.

“The bid-ask spread closed mostly due to investors getting more aggressive as market conditions improved,” Duckworth says. “Sellers have started to see higher offers than what they were able to achieve in the prior year and can now justify the sale to their partners and or lenders.”

Duckworth's conclusion: As sales volume has increased, there is greater clarity on the value of an asset, and that allows both buyers and sellers to feel comfortable that they are getting a “market deal.” Want more insights into 2016? Read my interview with Miami Worldcenter visionary Art Falcone.