Europe’s real estate market remains a top destination for capital leaving Asia despite an overall declined in total Asian investment.

According to the latest report from real estate advisor CBRE, total Asian commercial real estate investment during the first half of the year fell 25% year-on-year to US$19bn (€17.2bn), due to the “rebalancing of portfolios by Chinese investors and global economic uncertainties”.

The majority (46%) of the total amount was invested in Asia.

EMEA received the highest amount of capital leaving Asia, accounting for 37% of Asian outbound capital. The US and Pacific got 13% and 4% respectively.

CBRE said international commercial real investment continued to attract diverse sources of capital with “Korean and Singapore reaffirming their status as Asia’s leading source of capital”.

The data from CBRE’s biannual analysis showed that investors from Korea and Singapore were the major buyers in Europe, accounting for 67% and 15% of total cross-border Asian investment into Europe respectively.

Henry Chin, head of research, APAC/EMEA, said: “While there are overarching factors like geopolitical uncertainties and low-interest rates which will affect the region as a whole, investors from each market possess a different set of motivations and have different options in capital deployment.

“Europe remains at the forefront of these investment strategies; however, the shrewd nature of Asian investors means we will see a continued appetite for smaller, emerging markets as investors seek more attractive yields.”