CoStar: Sun Belt cities best for retail in 2024
The Sun Belt region dominates the list of top retail markets of 2024, with one outlier in the Midwest.
According to data compiled by commercial real estate firm CoStar Group, Phoenix, Orlando, and Las Vegas ranked as the top-three retail markets of the year. To determine the best-performing retail markets of 2024, CoStar ranked them across the following five categories: percent of inventory leased, availability rate, market rent growth, change in sales volume from last year, and total return for retail properties, as measured by CoStar’s total return index.
Other Sun Belt cities on the list include Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Austin, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa. CoStar said that commonalities amongst these markets include strong population and employment growth, more friendly tax and business policies, and nice weather to attract new residents.
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CoStar’s full data can be found below:
The one non-Sun Belt market in the top-10 list was Columbus, which was the fifth best market according to CoStar. The Ohio city has benefited greatly from the growth of Ohio State University, as well as numerous significant capital investments made by large tech companies such as Intel, Amazon, and Meta.
“As the U.S. retail market continues to evolve, the standout performance of Sun Belt cities and growth markets like Columbus underscores the pivotal role that demographics and broader business investment have in shaping retail markets,” said CoStar.
