St. George, UT has emerged as the highest-ranked U.S. metro for commercial real estate demand, according to the National Association of Realtors’ inaugural Commercial Real Estate Demand Index. In the first release of the index, St. George posted an overall score of 128, with multifamily demand identified as the leading contributor to its top position.
The Commercial Real Estate Demand Index is a new quarterly measure that tracks demand signals across 306 U.S. metro areas. It covers four major property sectors: office, industrial, retail and multifamily. Rather than focusing on current property performance indicators such as vacancy, rents or recent leasing activity, the index emphasizes local economic conditions that can generate future demand for commercial space.
NAR describes the index as an early indicator of where market momentum may be forming, capturing shifts in employment, population and other local dynamics before they appear in traditional commercial real estate metrics like leasing volumes or vacancy rates. By design, it is intended to highlight markets where activity may strengthen ahead of the data typically used by investors, lenders and owners to evaluate opportunities.
Nadia Evangelou, principal economist and director of real estate research at NAR, underscored that the index is grounded in local economic fundamentals. She noted that commercial real estate demand begins with what is happening in the local economy, and that demand starts with jobs and people well before a lease is executed. Evangelou said the index is meant to help identify those demand trends earlier, before they are visible in conventional market indicators.
Beyond St. George’s top ranking, the index points to broader geographic patterns in emerging commercial demand. South Carolina is cited as the nation’s strongest state for commercial real estate demand overall, reflecting continued momentum across the Carolinas. Within the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, Raleigh, NC holds the highest ranking, with an index score of 121.
For stakeholders across office, industrial, retail and multifamily segments, the index offers a standardized, recurring view of local economic underpinnings that may shape space needs over time. While it does not track pricing, cap rates or transaction volumes, its emphasis on forward-looking demand drivers provides an additional lens for evaluating relative strength among U.S. markets as conditions evolve.
