London has been named the most popular city for Middle Eastern investment

Middle Eastern investors are continuing to plough more money into London commercial property than any other city in the world, according to a new report from real estate investors CBRE.

In the 12 months between April 2016 and 2017, London attracted $1.68bn (£1.28bn) from the Middle East – strides ahead of New York at $820m and Washington DC at $469m.

Larger London deals included Blackstone’s £285m sale of the Lacon House office building, and the £150m purchase of Ofcom headquarters Riverside House by the Qatari royal family’s private property company, Alduwaliya.

Read more: Commercial property investment in the City set for a record year

“London and the UK remain a pre-eminent market for global capital, despite ongoing political uncertainties,” said CBRE UK’s Chris Brett. “In the past year we have seen Middle East investors securing opportunistic acquisitions in the capital, most notably family wealth from ultra-high-net-worth individuals and sovereign wealth funds.”

High-net-worth individuals and private investors were less active, suggesting they may be more susceptible to adverse market conditions.

In total, the Middle East invested $10.1bn in global commercial real estate over the 12-month period. This was a slight slowdown on the previous year, although the area still represented eight per cent of all cross-regional investments.

CBRE attributed the decline to a dip in the total number of deals involving a Middle Eastern ivestor, as well as the lack of large deals as Asian investors have elbowed in.

Read more: Asian investors have accounted for almost half of major London property deals since the Brexit vote