Non-gateway markets are becoming an increasingly attractive option for commercial real estate investors, as low cap rates and sky high prices make properties in gateway cities less appealing for those searching for yield. A recent “State of the Market” survey by global law firm DLA Piper found that 78 percent of real estate professionals it surveyed agreed that non-gateway markets will come to the forefront of investment preferences in the next 12 months (33 percent said they agreed, and 45 percent said they almost agreed). The preference was more pronounced among domestic rather than foreign investors, DLA Piper reports.

The firm also asked the survey respondents to rank the best non-gateway cities for commercial real estate investment and here are the results. (These were calculated with a weighted rank score, where the cities were ranked 1-3 using an inverse weighted scale that valued response of “1” as 3 points, response of “2” as 2 points and response of “3” as 1 point.)

The survey included responses from 186 real estate industry executives, among them those holding the titles of CEOs, COOs and CFOs and other senior positions at firms specializing in real estate investment and development, real estate debt placement, third-party brokerage and property and asset management. It was administered between March 10 and March 25 of this year.