Gateway markets such as New York City and Los Angeles may dominate when it comes to total investment in commercial real estate, but momentum is shifting toward secondary metro areas. These are markets outside the Big Six of Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

During 2016, the top 10 rounded out with Seattle, Atlanta, Denver and Phoenix, according to Colliers International, which found deal flow in secondary markets grew by 3.5 percent in 2016, while falling 11.0 percent in major markets.

Secondary markets are growing in strength, and investor interest is keeping step. In CBRE’s 2017 Global Investor Intentions Survey, of the top five cities in the Americas targeted by investors this year, two are secondary markets: Dallas/Fort Worth was ranked No. 2, and Atlanta was ranked No. 5, pushing San Francisco into sixth place.

By nature, secondary markets are smaller in terms of population than primary markets, and they