By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer – Real Estate Editor, Tampa Bay Business Journal

The annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, which forecasts the real estate market for the upcoming year, ranks Tampa/St. Pete as No. 5 for overall real estate prospects, behind Nashville, Tennessee, Dallas/Fort Worth, Atlanta and Austin, Texas. The region ranked No. 3 for homebuilding prospects behind San Antonio and Raleigh/Durham.

The report, now in its 44th year, is based on input and data from more than 2,000 real estate experts across the U.S. The Tampa/St. Pete area was fifth on the list last year, too. The report groups markets into categories; Tampa/St. Pete is within the magnet group and subcategorized as a “Super Sun Belt” market within the magnet group.

“Magnet markets are migration destinations for both people and companies, and most are growing more quickly than the U.S. average in terms of both population and jobs,” according to the report.

Tampa was also singled out for its growth in office-using jobs. As of mid-2022, the total number of office-using jobs in the U.S. was 5% higher than it was pre-pandemic, and even higher in Tampa, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta and Denver.