The report by Knight Frank also found that private investors are continuously becoming a force in the global real estate market.

Los Angeles and Sydney had the most private investment property transactions in 2016, according to a Knight Frank report.

The annual report called Active Capital Report also found that the ultra rich still remain a force in the real estate market around the world.

The US city and the Australian city were logged as the highest proportion of private investor transactions at 41 per cent. New York (36 per cent), London (33 per cent) and Shanghai (27 per cent) made up the top five cities.

In Asia, Singapore weighed in at 24 per cent, whereas Japan stood at 22 per cent. Berlin (23 per cent) and Paris (19 per cent) made up the other cities in the report. Knight Frank said: “this long-standing interest in the super cities stems from the latter’s solid fundamentals including tenant demand, liquidity and transparency”.

Private investors
The report also found that private investors are becoming an increasingly important force in the global real estate market; with 27 per cent of all global commercial property transactions in 2016 involved a private buyer.

Furthermore, a quarter of wealth is held in real estate investments of some kind (excluding primary residence and second homes), which is reportedly the highest allocation since records began.

Many of them have shown a preference to invest in commercial property within their country of residence (Asia 44 per cent, Europe 40 per cent and US 36 per cent), as compared to outside the country they live in (Asia 26 per cent, Europe 25 per cent and US 24 per cent).

Private investors are expected to continue to take global market share as both the number of wealthy individuals and their assets grow. The number of ultra-high net worth individuals, those with $30 million or more in net assets, rose by 6,340 in 2016 alone, taking the total to 193,490.

“Real estate has long been the cornerstone of the private investor’s investment portfolio,” said Nicholas Holt, head of research for Asia-Pacific at Knight Frank. “This situation continues to evolve as private capital becomes more knowledgeable around the intricacies of commercial real estate; with many investors having now taken their first steps into income-producing office, retail and industrial assets. In Asia, with the number of UHNWIs set to increase by 91% over the next decade, we expect this trend to continue and private capital to play an increasingly important role across the major markets within the region."