Ranking the top 100 cities for real estate investment and development
Leveraging data-driven and actionable insights for strategic planning
As real estate markets become increasingly intertwined with economic growth and urban development, merely understanding current market conditions is no longer sufficient for developing long-term investment strategies. To achieve sustainable success, real estate companies must also possess a deep understanding of future economic trends, as these can significantly influence property values and demand.
For companies exploring international opportunities, economic insights are even more critical. They need to blend high-level economic understanding and detailed, data-driven location analysis. This approach enables them to pinpoint regions with growth potential, recognise the unique opportunities each location presents, and develop sustainable, resilient portfolio strategies that ensure long-term success.
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Connect with us todayThe Challenge
A leading global real estate company approached Oxford Economics with a specific need: to support the development of its long-term international growth strategy by identifying the most attractive cities worldwide for real estate investment and development. Although the client had access to internal real estate indicators such as yield data, they sought an independent, macroeconomic-driven lens to assess urban attractiveness at a higher level, to inform their long-term strategic planning.
The client’s key goals were to:
- Identify future growth opportunities across five major real estate sectors: office, industrial, retail, residential and hotel.
- Have an intuitive tool to easily extract and present key findings to senior management.
- Obtain independent, accountable insights free from institutional bias to support strategic discussions.
- Ensure robust and clearly documented methodologies that can withstand internal scrutiny.
The Solution
To address the Client’s needs, the Cities and Regions Service team at Oxford Economics focused on four key aspects: robust data and analysis, a bespoke City Attractiveness Index, a customisable city benchmarking tool and comprehensive support from the economists.
Through Oxford Economics Global Cities Forecasting Service, the Client gained access to detailed historical data and forecasts for 1,000 cities worldwide, along with in-depth city reports. This valuable information was accessible via our online portal, dashboard and Economist support, meeting the Client’s diverse analytical needs.
We developed a bespoke City Attractiveness Index to help the client identify the most attractive locations for real estate investment. The index ranked 100 global cities across six pillars: city fundamentals, office, industry, retail, residential and hotels. Each pillar is underpinned by various economic metrics that capture a city’s historical stability, market scale and future growth prospects. The data used in this project is taken from our Global Cities Forecasting Service which ensures a consistent definition of metrics and city boundaries, facilitating accurate comparisons within the client’s international portfolio.
As part of this project, we also used data from our Global Cities Index (GCI), such as quality of life and educational attainment among others. This type of data helped provide a more holistic approach to city attractiveness, and our previous experience producing the GCI was a valuable resource when creating this bespoke City Attractiveness Index. The GCI also gave us credibility in this space, which helped foster trust in our methodology and our selection of indicators.
To provide greater flexibility, we created an Excel-based customisable benchmarking tool, allowing easy comparison across cities and sectors. The Client could adjust the weightings of both the pillars and sub-indicators based on their investment priorities and receive results instantly. For instance, when exploring logistics property investment, the client could increase the weighting for transport and storage indicators, while reducing emphasis on manufacturing to obtain more specific results.
To ensure the Client’s maximised the benefits of our solutions, our economist conducted a presentation and discussion session in the local language to support the Client’s internal strategic discussions and leadership briefings. Additionally, we prepared a detailed methodology report to ensure transparency and ease of understanding.
Our comprehensive solutions provided the Client with both strategic insights and practical tools to make informed investment decisions.
The Result
Our solutions empowered the client to identify overlooked cities with strong potential, align internal portfolio strategies with economic trends and secure senior leadership’s buy-in through clear, data-driven communication. By leveraging Oxford Economics’ rigorous services, the client was able to incorporate macroeconomic foresight into its global real estate strategy.
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Related services
Global Cities Service
Cities Consulting
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