A market can be big, relatively robust, and still have had the stuffing kicked out of it. That's the overall good news/bad news of MSCI's take on U.S. 2023 capital trends in commercial real estate. This isn't surprising when the main thrust of the larger report was that end-of-year 2023 trends don't bode well for 2024.

"All 25 of the most active U.S. markets of 2023 experienced large double-digit declines in transaction volume for the year," the firm wrote. "Single asset sales made up a majority of the activity that did occur, with 20 of the top locales logging at least 80% of their volume in individual transactions."

For several years, Dallas had been a top target for CRE investment dollars. That's something that hasn't changed. For the third year in a row, MSCI found Dallas at the top of the transaction heap. Almost half of the nearly $18.8 billion in sales were in multifamily. It was the only single category where Dallas was also on top. However, volume was down 58% from 2022.