CALABASAS, CA—In keeping with norms established over the past several quarters, a West Coast market leads the way in forward-looking indicators for multifamily investment. The winner in the latest National Multifamily Index from Marcus & Millichap and its Institutional Property Advisors division is Seattle-Tacoma, on the strength of its robust tech employment and soaring home prices that continue to boost rental demand.

Not surprisingly, the West Coast dominates the top 10 in the latest NMI, with California cities and Portland, OR joining Seattle there. Only third-ranked Minneapolis-St. Paul, with its steady job growth and robust renter demand, represents the Midwest in the top 10, while Boston and New York City come into the rankings at #s 6 and 7, respectively.

Yet the latest NMI also illustrates two overarching trends, one of which is the amount of movement in the rankings. At #8, Sacramento (#8) posted the largest increase in the index, ascending 12 slots due to its robust rent growth and low vacancy rates. Other markets to post big gains were Orlando (#17) and Detroit (#28), each of which leaped 10 places, on the strength of employment gains and in-migration in the case of Orlando and a slow construction pipeline in Detroit.