Salt Lake City is the strongest employment market since the onset of the pandemic and now employs 45,000 more people than before COVID-19, a 3.4% gain.

Other markets that are outperforming national employment figures include Austin, which lost 142,000 jobs during the pandemic and has 24,000 more than before;  Jacksonville, which  lost 82,000 jobs and has 8,000 more jobs than February of last year; Tampa, which lost 172,000 positions and now has 12,000 more jobs; and Phoenix, which has 14,000 more jobs than before the pandemic.

These metros offer investors "a chance to ride a wave of growth," says John Chang, Senior Vice President and Director, Research Service at Marcus & Millichap. The CRE markets in these cities have mostly already recovered and have been posting strong growth in terms of space demand and pricing.