U.S. capital raced across the Atlantic in the first half of 2014, acquiring $15.5 billion in European real estate, a 75 percent increase from the first half of 2013, according to the latest research from CBRE.

U.S. investors made acquisitions in at least 15 countries, though the United Kingdom attracted more than one-third of the capital, including The Blackstone Group’s purchase of Alban Gate, a London office property, for about $500 million in April. The firm’s fourth European real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV, had a $7 billion final close in March after just six months of fundraising.

Paris received more U.S. capital than any other city, bringing in $2.5 billion in the first half of 2014, though France only received 17 percent of total U.S. capital, according to CBRE. Yankee investors in the city included