Texas cities are where a lot of commercial real estate growth has been happening lately, driven by the state's outperforming jobs market, and Houston is no exception. The city’s retail vacancy currently stands at 5.8 percent and it saw $669 million in sales in the first half of 2014. But there is also 1.29 million sq. ft. of new retail space under construction, so Houston’s retail supply is about to get a significant boost.

At first glance, Oakland may look like an outlier, but this Northern California port city has vacancy of only 4.3 percent, average rents of $21.82 per sq. ft. (higher than some major metropolitan hubs), and only 139,518 sq. ft. of new retail space under construction.

Nearby, Los Angeles also continues to prosper as one of the major retail draws in the country. Rents in the city average $24.27 per sq. ft., while vacancy has stayed at a conservative 5.1 percent. In addition, Los Angeles recorded the second highest volume of investment sales of retail properties in the first half of the year, at $1.8 billion. One of the few draws is that there are 1.3 million sq. ft. of new construction coming on-line.

Boston has been another bright spot on retail investors’ radars since the downturn ended. The city’s vacancy rate is at 4.2 percent, it recorded $858 million in sales in the first half of 2014 and its year-over-year sales volume jumped an impressive 134 percent. Like Los Angeles, however, Boston has a fair amount of new supply coming up, with 2.8 million sq. ft. of space under construction.

San Diego combines low vacancy, at 4.3 percent and strong rents, at $22.37 per sq. ft., with a moderate new construction pipeline, at 576,528 sq. ft. The city also ranked sixth on Marcus & Millichap’s National Retail Index this year.

Major tourist hub Miami has one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country, at 3.7 percent, with rents averaging $28.94 per sq. ft. It recorded $466 million in retail investment sales in the first half of 2014. But the city will also see an influx of new space coming on the market—1.2 million sq. ft., to be exact.

Honolulu has not gotten as much spotlight as some of the other cities on this list, but it’s definitely a contender. The city has the second lowest vacancy rate in the country, at 2.6 percent, and the third highest rents, at $34.57 per sq. ft. The retail investment sales market in Hawaii in general exploded over the past 12 months, with sales volume increasing 760 percent from mid-year 2013 to $732 million. Yet the amount of new retail space under construction in Honolulu remains relatively modest, at 323,203 sq. ft.

San Francisco has made so many headlines for its insane real estate boom recently it may overtake New York as the city of disgruntled renters, both residential and commercial. Things are no different in the retail sector. The vacancy rate is the lowest in the country, at 2.4 percent; the rents are the third highest, at $32.57 per sq. ft. Investment sales totaled $496 million in the first half of 2014. And the amount of new space under construction is miniscule, at 95,930 sq. ft.

Would you like to know why retail (and everything else) in Manhattan is so damn expensive? Here are the reasons: the vacancy rate here is at 3.0 percent, while the rents are the highest in the country by quite a wide margin, at $93.29 per sq. ft. Investment sales in the first half of the year totaled $3.4 billion, almost double that of runner-up Los Angeles, and represent an increase of 326 percent over the same period in 2013. The amount of new retail space under construction is under a million—776,066 sq. ft. and, of course, it ranked first on Marcus & Millichap’s National Retail Index.