San Antonio, Seattle and Nashville record significant gains in third-quarter rankings as industrial job growth strengthens demand signals in select markets.
WASHINGTON— Industrial employment growth is reshaping commercial real estate demand across several U.S. markets, with San Antonio, Seattle and Nashville recording some of the largest gains in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) third-quarter 2026 Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Demand Index.
Although industrial employment remained relatively flat nationwide, stronger hiring in manufacturing, transportation and warehousing helped lift demand indicators in select metropolitan areas, according to the report released Tuesday.
Of the 306 metropolitan areas tracked, 143 scored above 100 in the third quarter, indicating stronger commercial real estate demand drivers relative to the national metro average. St. George, Utah, retained the top position with a score of 132, followed by Huntsville, Alabama, at 125; Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas, and Sherman-Denison, Texas, both at 123; and Ocala, Florida, at 121.
San Antonio posted the largest improvement over the past year, climbing from 76th to ninth place. Seattle advanced from 146th to 44th, while Nashville moved from 73rd to 20th. Austin also entered the top 10.
“The story this quarter is where companies are hiring,” said Nadia Evangelou, NAR’s principal economist and director of real estate research. She noted that differences in local employment growth are influencing which markets are showing stronger commercial real estate demand signals.
The report also found that leisure and hospitality employment increased in approximately two-thirds of metropolitan areas, while retail trade employment continued to lag.
Major markets including Miami, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco remained below the index average. San Francisco, however, recorded an improvement of approximately five points compared with the same period last year.
Evangelou said employment trends provide an additional measure of underlying market conditions, noting that metropolitan areas with similar vacancy rates and rent growth can have significantly different demand prospects depending on where job creation is occurring.
NAR’s quarterly CRE Demand Index measures the economic factors influencing commercial real estate demand across 306 U.S. metropolitan areas. A score of 100 represents the average metropolitan area, with higher scores indicating stronger relative demand drivers and lower scores reflecting weaker momentum. A score below 100 does not necessarily indicate that a market is contracting.
