Middle Eastern and overseas investors have been quite active in the United Kingdom and Central London realty market, buying mostly into €100 million (Dh467m)-plus properties, according to a new report.

“Middle Eastern and overseas investors have been particularly prominent this year, concluding a number of large deals, including the purchase of Knightsbridge Estate in London for close to €660m,” CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) said in a new report.

Jonathan Hull, Executive Director of Emea Capital Markets, CBRE, said: “With a growing number of larger transactions in Europe, we are also starting to see an increase in cross-border activity. This is already evident in Germany, where cross-border investment grew to 44 per cent of the market in the first half 2010, compared to only about 10 per cent in the second half 2009.”

In June, Andrew Phillips, Regional Sales Director, Hamptons International, UK, told Emirates Business investors from the Middle East, especially from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, were more geared towards purchasing “period” type of properties within London. Middle Eastern investors were putting in a minimum of £500,000 (Dh2.8m) upwards in properties in the UK and London, he added.

“Period” properties are those that are Victorian in style and not essentially purpose-built.

Meanwhile, European commercial real estate investment turnover reached €23.5 billion in the second quarter of 2010, a 15 per cent increase on the €20.3bn transacted in the first three months of 2010, CBRE said.

Investment turnover rose despite the stress factors emerging in the broader capital markets, such as the sovereign debt crisis and the introduction of austerity measures by many European governments.

Investors continue to predominantly focus on the core assets, predominantly at the prime end of the market, with the largest, most liquid markets seeing the most activity. As property investors’ concerns over issues of sovereign debt grew during the second quarter of 2010, the flight to quality seems to have intensified even further.

Second quarter investment activity remained concentrated in the UK, Germany and France, which together accounted for 62 per cent of the European investment total. France saw the highest growth of the three markets, with a quarter-on-quarter increase of 46 per cent. The UK market saw an increase of 24 per cent in investment activity in second quarter.