The Texas state capital has had enormous population jumps, many times doubling in population size over a decade, and has grown almost ten-fold since 1950 to just under one million people. Likewise, during the past two decades, the city’s office market has hit its stride, surging from 22 million sq. ft. in 1990 to more than 45 million sq. ft. at the end of 2015, and more growth is expected, as the city was ranked number one for real estate development by the Urban Land Institute.

Hundreds of millions - probably billions - more has been invested by small investment groups, some focused on single family homes, others on multi-family housing. Going on ten years after the crash, the question now is: when will these investors cash in their real estate holdings and put that money to work in traditional vehicles such as stocks and bonds?

The IRS just shut down yet another loophole in tax law that, if exploited, would allow companies to keep spinning off their property holdings into REITs.

A new strategy to stay successful is picking up steam: co-branding.

Texas is home to three of the fastest-growing counties in the nation: Bexar, Travis and Williamson. In San Antonio and Austin, new residents are arriving at a rate of about 150 people per day, according to the Census Bureau’s 2014–2015 data. That growth is creating increased demand for fundamental services—notably, healthcare and medical office buildings.

Over the past few years, Heavy Construction Systems Solutions (HCSS) has been rated as one of Houston's best places to work. With the completion of its new office building in Sugar Land, it's upped its game. Designed by Studio RED and built by Rosenberger Construction, the 15k SF office boasts several unique elements, like an adult slide.

Jacobs Engineering and Jamba Juice are both moving their corporate headquarters out of California. Both are landing in Texas.

Lenders are finally rewarding apartment properties that use less energy with lower interest rates and larger loans—and apartment owners are eagerly signing up.

For investors willing to dig deeper, there is another way to play. While the cloud sounds ethereal, it is, ironically, firmly rooted to the earth because all the work takes place in commercial real estate known as data centers.

Landlords of retail properties should counter the threat from electronic commerce by turning to dining and entertainment to attract a younger generation of customers, according to MetLife Inc.’s asset manager.

The sector has more fully emerged and matured, and today it has become a more institutionally-accepted asset type in which to invest.