HOUSTON—The emerging trends in office real estate took center stage at the first panel session at GlobeSt.com Thought Leader NAIOP's inaugural O.CON: The Office Conference in Houston at the JW Marriott Galleria on Wednesday, June 24.

An engaging discussion from capital users and providers set the tone for the event. Panelists at “Capital Markets Outlook: A Global Perspective” included Sean Bannon, managing director-head of US real estate, Zurich Alternative Asset Management; Collete English Dixon, principal, transactions, Prudential Real Estate Investors; T. Gregory Kraus, managing director, director of North American acquisitions, Invesco Real Estate; and Al Pontius, national director, commercial property groups, Marcus & Millichap.

Led by moderator Marc David Renard, vice chairman and executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, the panelists quickly focused on where in the cycle the market is.

“What I think is different right now is that we're in a time where were seeing some economic expansion, sources investing in us that we've never seen before,” said Dixon. “We have very moderate development going on in all product types.”

She noted that “outside influences” want to invest: “For the first time in awhile, we have a lot of things working well for us.”

Panelist Kraus agreed.

“There's a real influx of new foreign capital, and that's coming from the Asian and Pacific markets,” he said, cautioning, “tenant demand from market to market manifests itself differently.”

Does history tend to repeat itself? the panelists mulled.

“The first 15 minutes of every discussion is about risk [now] and that's not uncommon,” Bannon said. “That feels a little bit more healthy to me.”

Meanwhile, as far as where the capital is focused in terms of geography, Pontius pointed out a seemingly surprising fact.

“Seventy-seven percent of what traded is in suburban locations,” he said. “[That's where] expansion of office capital is aimed.”