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People cool off in the Trocadero fountains near the Eiffel Tower on a hot summer day in Paris July 3, 2014. Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes

Europe's commercial real estate investment market continued its strong growth during the first half of the year with France and Germany leading the way, Property Magazine International reported, utilising a study conducted by the CBRE Group.

The publication reported that a surge in investments in France and Germany, which account for €7.3 billion and €7 billion, respectively, have propelled Europe's commercial real estate purchases to €46 billion in Q2. Overall, Europe gained real estate investments worth €84 billion in H1.

It also revealed that of the four largest transactions (over €1 billion) since 2007 in the region during H1, two occurred in France, while the rest occurred in Germany and the United Kingdom. Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland contributed €100 million of the total transactions.

Investments in France's commercial real estate came from domestic buyers and from investors from the Middle East. According to the report, some 69 percent of the deals were due to local buyers, compared with 36 percent in Q1 2014. In Germany, majority of the investments came from the United States, UK and France.

U.S. real estate investors took the limelight in terms of investment activities in Europe, with assets spread across 15 European countries. Paris drew the lion's share of the investments, with U.S. investors purchasing nearly €1.9 billion worth of assets in the city.

"While the volume of business in U.S. commercial real estate is expanding, price movements in domestic markets and improving prospects in the European economy, have led U.S. investors to target Europe more ambitiously than has been the case in recent years," CBRE Global President, Capital Markets, Chris Ludeman, said in the report.

"This investment is dominated by fund managers, rather than investors buying directly, so there is an extent to which they represent a conduit for global capital rather than just U.S. money. Nonetheless, the increase over the last few quarters has been remarkable," he said.

"Another feature is the range of locations that U.S. investors are seeking out with general pricing in Europe seen as attractive and "recovery play" investments currently more accessible currently than in the U.S," he added.

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