St. George, Utah — a metro of about 200,000 people — posted the nation’s highest commercial real estate demand score at 128 in NAR’s new index.
NAR tied that lead to the strongest office employment growth of any U.S. city, one of the fastest population gains, and above-average industrial demand.
125 scores in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers and Huntsville showed the same pattern: smaller metros with broad-based momentum outranking traditional commercial hubs.
Florida and former boomtowns have cooled since 2022 — Austin fell to 116 from 132, Miami to 99, and Naples to 95 — even as South Carolina now leads states at 110.
306 metro areas are measured against a 100 average using office, industrial, retail and multifamily demand drivers, highlighting relative momentum rather than total market size.