Cassidy Turley issued a research report highlighting the importance of venture capital in the resurgence of economic growth. (Click here to download the PDF.) Select regions in the country are being targeted by VC funds for technology and other growth-oriented investments, and these regions are likely to have an early recovery in commercial real estate values.

As the nearby chart demonstrates, the leading regions for recent VC investments include Silicon Valley, New England (mostly Boston), and the New York MSA. CRE investors will quickly note that these areas have easily outperformed most regions in the country in regards to recovering real estate valuations.

While population growth was the key indicator for real estate appreciation during the 2000 to 2007 period, it may be less of a barometer for your investment strategy currently. Rather, your thinking should be more focused on economic growth drivers such as investments in technology, biotech, global trade routes, growth sectors, high profit industries and the presence of Fortune 1000 companies.