Rising above

Dallas-Fort Worth towers among top commercial real estate markets in 2022

The sky's the limit when it comes to Dallas' commercial real estate market.

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If a new ranking is accurate, Dallas' hot market for commercial real estate will continue to sizzle in 2022.

The ranking, from Austin-based CrowdStreet, positions Dallas-Fort Worth as the country’s No. 8 market for commercial real estate investment this year. CrowdStreet’s online platform enables private investment in commercial real estate.

The hottest market in the nation, however, is Austin, which lands at No. 1 in the new rankings.

“Austin continues to benefit from several years of strong population and job growth, thanks in part to corporate relocation and expansion by some of the nation’s largest companies,” CrowdStreet says.

CrowdStreet ranked the top 20 commercial real estate markets based on nearly 30 factors, including population growth, job growth, unemployment rate, economic diversification, education levels, climate, property prices, and quality of life.

In putting DFW at No. 8, CrowdStreet cites the region’s surge in home prices, apartment rents, and apartment occupancy levels.

“With employment growth and in-migration outpacing the majority of top U.S. markets, Dallas-Fort Worth is full of opportunities for investors in 2022,” CrowdStreet notes.

The company places Austin at No. 1 in the build-to-rent category, No. 2 in the office and retail categories, and No. 3 in the multifamily category.

Austin “continues to have many advantages to recommend it, from its relative affordability and vibrant cultural offerings to its enviable status as a relocation city of choice for Silicon Valley businesses and employees,” says CrowdStreet, mentioning the local presence of major companies like Google, Oracle, and Tesla.

Joining Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth is San Antonio (debuting on the annual list at No. 14).

14th-ranked San Antonio’s military presence, population growth, and retail growth helped spur “outsized growth” there in 2021, CrowdStreet points out.

“We take all property types into account [for our ranking] since the deals on our platform cover private real estate opportunities in all multifamily and commercial real estate sectors. But to make the top 20, a market must consistently rank highly across multiple real estate classes,” Ian Formigle, chief investment officer at CrowdStreet, says in a news release.

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in demand

Dallas ranks among top 10 U.S. metros for surge in millionaire renters

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The number of millionaire renters and homeowners in the U.S. has surged over the last five years, and Dallas has cracked the top 10 metros with the largest growth rates among these affluent renter households.

Nationwide, the number of millionaire renter households grew 229 percent from 2020 to 2024, far outpacing the 193 percent growth rate among millionaire homeowners, a new RentCafe study found.

In Dallas, the number of millionaire renter households has more than quintupled, from just 30 in 2020 to 165 in 2024. That represents a renter growth rate of 450 percent, which - surprisingly - is only the 8th highest nationwide.

Houston leads the nation with the No. 1 increase in millionaire renters. The number of these wealthy households increased from 18 to 232 over the last five years, representing an impressive 1,189 percent growth rate.

The top 10 U.S. metros with the biggest surge in millionaire renters are:

No. 1 – Houston
No. 2 – Naples, Florida
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 – Seattle
No. 5 – Los Angeles
No. 6 – Denver
No. 7 – St. Louis, Missouri
No. 8 – Dallas
No. 9 – Boston
No. 10 – Phoenix

But when it comes to the largest populations of millionaire renters, New York City and San Francisco still lead the way. New York claimed the No. 1 spot with nearly 7,300 millionaire renters living in the city in 2024. Dallas ranked 17th on that list.

Elsewhere in Texas, Houston and Austin ranked as the 12th and 16th, respectively, for the largest population of millionaire renters. There were 232 millionaire renters living in Houston in 2024, and 206 in Austin.

This is who the typical millionaire renter is
The report also revealed a surprising statistic about the typical millionaire renter in the U.S. — a lot of them are millennials working in "white-collar, high-earning fields."

"Nearly half (49 percent) of millionaire renters are Millennials, and the number of affluent Millennial renter households surged 392 percent during the five-year period," the report said. "Gen X follows with 33 percent of millionaire Gen X households renting after increasing by 147 percent."

The report continued, "Although Gen Z still represents a small share of millionaire renters (just 2 percent of the total), no generation has expanded faster: Gen Z millionaire renter households leaped from fewer than a dozen to more than 400 — a tiny cohort today, but one that was virtually nonexistent five years ago."

The top three most common professions for millionaire renters are chief executives, software developers, and managers, the report additionally found.

"These roles tend to generate steady, substantial income without necessarily tying workers to one location, making renting a practical fit, rather than a financial necessity," the report said.

Hotspots for millionaire homeowners
In RentCafe's separate list comparing the top 10 most popular U.S. metros for millionaire homeowners, Dallas ranked 10th nationally with 4,731 millioniare homeowners living in the metro as of 2024. These wealthy Dallas residents are most likely working as chief executives, physicians, managers, and lawyers and judges.

Dallas has already proven to be a hotspot for millennial homebuyers, and the latest RentCafe data says millennials make up 19 percent of all millionaire homeowners in the U.S. Gen Xers and Baby Boomers still maintain the largest shares of millionaire homeowners nationwide, at 45 and 33 percent, respectively.

Houston (No. 12) and Austin (No. 20) appeared further down the list among the hottest metros for millionaire homeowners.

Only one Texas city appeared among RentCafe's list of the 20 fastest-growing metros for millionaire homeowners: College Station ranked 13th nationwide with a growth rate of 1,329 percent. From 2020-2024, the number of millionaire homeowners residing in College Station grew from 14 to 200.

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