"The pandemic has super-charged the southern strategy," according to Joe Lubeck, CEO of American Landmark Apartments. The company has always been bullish on the Sunbelt region, but since the pandemic, investors have flooded into the region, following population and job growth.

"The growth in the investor interest and customer interest in the Sunbelt has expanded beyond any body's wildest expectations, and despite COVID or perhaps because of COVID, the market is very strong," Lubeck tells GlobeSt.com. "We are seeing outsized job and population growth in the Sunbelt markets."

Florida and Texas are the most highly sought-after markets in the region, although Lubeck says that all major markets in the Sunbelt are outperforming expectations. South Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa in Florida and Dallas, San Antonio and Austin in Texas are the most active investment markets. "Austin in particular is booming because of tech companies and the Tesla relocation, although prices are also perhaps overheated," says Lubeck.