Investment volumes in the global property increased by 6 per cent in 2012 from a year before while the Asian market, for some time one of the busiest regions, lagged with a growth rate of 3.7 per cent last year, according to Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate services firm.

Overall investment in the Asia-Pacific region, the report said, amounted to $437.6 billion in 2012.

According to the firm’s latest International Investment Atlas released yesterday, the global property investment market saw volumes of activity reaching $929 billion.

Globally, investment volumes rallied in the in the final three months of 2012, which suggests the rise of momentum that could see volumes this year increase by around 14 per cent to exceed $1 trillion mark for the first time since 2007, the firm predicted.

The increase in activity this year will be led by North America and Asian markets and driven by increased allocations to property by institutions and high net worth individuals/families plus increased stock on coming to the market, it said.

In 2012 by country/region, the US and Mexico were the biggest gainers in the Americas; Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand enjoyed the strongest growth rates in Asia; while for Europe, Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Ireland saw the highest growth.

More modest increases in big markets like mainland China, Germany and Hong Kong were also clearly instrumental in delivering growth at the global level.

The firm said that investment activity will rise by between 15 per cent and 20 per cent in 2013 in the Asia Pacific region.