LOS ANGELES-The multifamily market will remain the hottest property type for the coming year, according to panelists at the ULI Fall Meeting here Thursday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. That's not a surprise, but the ULI's annual Emerging Trends survey shows that even B and C quality rental properties may hold promise for investors in the coming year.

The multifamily outlook was just one facet of the commercial real estate markets that ULI panelists explored Thursday in a number of sessions that drilled down into the details of the Emerging Trends report, which was discussed in more general terms Wednesday in a webinar at the ULI meeting, as reported by GlobeSt.com.

In a panel discussion that looked at the capital markets portion of the Emerging Trends report, speakers pointed out that the report shows that low-income housing remains the only type of multifamily development expected to attract few investors or lenders.

Industrial real estate also appears to be headed for a surprisingly strong performance during the long recovery, and panelists seemed optimistic, but not giddy, about the improvement in both the office and hospitality sectors. Distressed assets in secondary markets however, do not look promising in the short term.

Charles DiRocco, a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, noted that gateway cites on both coasts and in Texas dominate the action, including Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Formerly weak performers like Philadelphia and Seattle have sunnier outlooks. Those cities are “where the affluence of our country is, and there are value-added plays available“ according to DiRocco.

San Francisco was singled out for praise for being a 24-hour city, as well as “one of the most walkable places” in the country, according to the report. Los Angeles, in contrast, is a “self-sustaining market” primarily of interest to local investors, according to DiRocco.

Port cities may also be good places to invest and develop: The widening of the Panama Canal, with completion expected in 2014, appears likely to ramp up development activity along with shipping that previously went entirely to West Coast ports. Ports located along the Gulf of Mexico and the southeast coast could see explosive growth from Asian shipping activity. Houston is one potential winner from the Panama project, while Atlanta, which is near the port city of Charleston, also stands to benefit, according to the report.

Outside of the so-called gateway cities, however, “it’s probably better to be an owner or a seller than a buyer right now,” DiRocco said.

The presentations by DiRocco and others on capital markets and other facets of the Emerging Trends report were part of a full day of sessions at the ULI Fall Meeting, where speakers and panelists from every corner of the development and real estate worlds have been presenting their views on the industry's future this week. The ULI event also includes presentations that assess the overall economic factors affecting the industry, like the economic research presented in sessions earlier in the week, as reported by GlobeSt.com.