JLL has revealed that London maintained its position as the top city for global real estate investment for the second year in a row in 2018. Twelve cities — London, New York, Paris, Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Washington DC, Sydney, Singapore, Toronto and Munich — have appeared in JLL’s top 30 ranking every year for the past decade and account for 30 percent of all real estate investment. Half of the established gateway cities are in Asia Pacific. JLL says that increased transparency in these locations may encourage more investment and move them higher up the rankings in 2019. Richard Bloxam, global head of capital markets at JLL, says that investors remain focused on gateway cities despite tight pricing. “Many are looking at alternative or emerging locations, as well as varying real estate property types within these cities, rather than exploring other less familiar cities,” he says.