NEW YORK CITY—With the Urban Land Institute'sFall Meeting in full swing here, a pair of surveys cosponsored byULI predicts the industry's current momentum will carry over into2015. The 2015 edition of ULI's annual Emerging Trends in RealEstate report, co-published by PwC US andissued Wednesday at the conference, cites the rise of marketsoutside the coastal gateway cities, with Houston leading the way.Similarly, the semi-annual ULI/EY Real Estate ConsensusForecast issued last week predicts continued strengthening inthe capital markets and in commercial real estate fundamentals.

Commenting on the PwC/ULI report, ULI global CEO PatrickL. Phillips notes that investors are “looking closely atopportunities beyond the core markets. These cities are positioningthemselves as highly competitive, in terms of livability,employment offerings and recreational and cultural amenities.”

While it may be difficult to think of the nation's largestcommercial property market as old news, New York City is not in thetop five among markets ranked by survey respondents in the PwC/ULIstudy. Nor is it in the top 10; Manhattan ranks number 14 andBrooklyn number 22. With the energy sector continuing to drivemarket growth, Houston was ranked number one for development andinvestment expectations, and number two for its housing marketexpectations.