Five years on from the start of the pandemic lockdowns, this article takes stock of where coastal innovation “gateway” metros are in the real estate cycle. Specifically, we highlight the resilience of U.S. gateway metros amid the significant challenges they faced during and after the pandemic.

Gateway metros were particularly hard-hit, as remote work facilitated population outflows and the reduced demand weighed on real estate pricing. The beneficiaries of this process were small, more affordable non-gateway metros. Several years later, demographic, economic and real estate trends have reverted to pre-pandemic norms.

Gateway metros have several structural advantages, focused on the multifamily sector. These can be broken down into four main parts.

First, innovation ecosystems drive long-run success. Gateway markets are hosts to an entrenched ecosystem of innovation representing some of the largest clusters of highly skilled employment in the nation. These fu