A recent COMMERCIALCafé study looking at the 2018 office construction pipeline showed that close to 75 million square feet of space are on track for delivery next year. What stood out from our analysis was that nearly half of the national construction pipeline is concentrated in suburban areas, with the Bay Area and DFW poised to add the most new office space in the coming year. Investors are shifting their focus outside the expensive and overbuilt CBDs, opting instead for strategically located development opportunities on the fringe. By all accounts, the U.S. office construction market seems to be gearing up for a busy 2018, so this is the perfect time for investors to plan their next move–and we mean to simplify that process.

Using as a starting point our initial study, where we zoomed in on the cities set to add the most new office space in 2018, we took a step back to see which markets present the best overall conditions for office investment in the coming year. With the aid of Yardi Matrix and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, we came up with a list of the six best markets for office investment in 2018, based on metrics such as employment numbers, vacancy rates, lease rates and the office construction pipeline. We also threw in three mid-strength markets worth investing in, should none of the top six contenders appeal to you. Read on to see which are our top picks for investing in office real estate in 2018.

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