Article

Which global cities pack the biggest punch for investors?

While some of the big names still appear in the top eight, there are a number of cities which are a little more off the beaten investment track.

April 28, 2017

When it comes to investing directly in a city’s real estate, it’s often the same big hitters that top the lists time and time again for attracting the lion’s share of the money.

Yet there are some smaller cities that are punching above their weight when it comes to attracting money from both domestic and international investors, according to JLL’s Investment Intensity Index. It compares the volume of direct real estate investment in a city over a three-year period relative to the city’s current economic size.

And while some of the big names still appear in the top eight, there are a number of cities which are a little more off the beaten investment track. Nevertheless, these transparent, innovation-oriented cities are accounting for a growing share of global commercial real estate investment – and many of them are based in Europe.

“Significant capital continues to target real estate, and Europe’s New World Cities – mid-sized markets which specialise in high-tech and high-value activities – sit high on the wish lists of global investors,” says Jeremy Kelly, Director in Global Research, JLL. “The attractiveness of these smaller markets in transparent economies is evident, with the contribution of 40 New World Cities to global investment volumes rising from 12 percent in 2006 to 23 percent in 2016, overtaking the share of global investment into the ‘Big 6’ markets of New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.”

View the slideshow below to find out more about the top eight.