Total returns for global property funds reached 13.5 percent in 2015, marking the highest return in four years, according to MSCI’s IPD Global Quarterly Property Fund Index. The strong performance was an increase from the 12.0 percent total return the index recorded in 2014.

“In North America, we saw the post–financial crisis factors playing out as good performance in the properties market, and strong capital inflows fueled a surge in capital value growth in North America,” said Ken Greguski, executive director, MSCI, in a statement.

North America was a particularly resilient market, delivering a 14 percent return. This was largely a result of capital value growth in the U.S. market. The strong capital value growth in the United States, and across North America, contributed to strong capital value growth in the IPD Global Quarterly Property Fund Index as a whole.

Greguski noted, “The leverage level has declined from the 2009 levels, and in some markets