The low Australian dollar, low interest rates and a desire by developers to get property and/or land for mixed use and residential projects were seen as the catalysts for the 19 per cent jump in investments for the year to June 30.

The latest Australian Investment Review from Colliers International says Sydney was the third most popular destination for commercial property investors, peaking at $5.1 billion. Some of the larger deals were for office towers that will be converted to apartments, including Gold Fields House at Circular Quay, bought by the Chinese Dalian Wanda group for $415 million.

London was the first destination, attracting $28 billion of capital followed by Manhattan, New York, at $12.2 billion, with Shanghai and Paris holding the fourth and fifth positions.

DTZ, in its new report, says global investment in commercial property has grown sharply in the first half of the year to reach $US318 billion, 15 per cent higher than the first half 2014. It has Sydney sitting at the number two spot in Asia Pacific and 10th globally with $US8.2 billion traded, up more than 15 per cent on last year's figure.

John Marasco, managing director of capital markets and investment services at Colliers International, said sales across retail, industrial and office markets topped out at $28.88 billion for the 2015 financial year.

"The strong performance of the sector in recent years, and the potential for continuing growth have made more offshore investors consider the Australian market for the first time,' he said.

"At the same time, conditions for domestic investors have also been positive, so together demand for commercial property assets is at an all-time high."

Mr Marasco said the biggest trend was the partnering by Australian companies with offshore investors. The largest transaction of the 2015 financial year was the sale of 62.5 per cent of T1 at Barangaroo​ to Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Australian Prime Property Fund (APPF) Commercial for a total of $875 million.

However, this has more recently been eclipsed by Chinese Investment Corp's acquisition of the Investa Property Trust in late July for $2.5 billion.

"Offshore capital partnering is becoming more and more common, and not just in the office sector," said Mr Marasco.

"We are increasingly seeing this trend in the industrial sector, and we're aware it may also become more prevalent in the retail sector as well.

But the biggest challenge is the lack of supply. It is expected that domestic super funds and property trusts will all have a look at 420 George Street, Sydney being sold by Fortius Funds Management and Lend Lease's, APPF.

"Demand is certainly outweighing supply at present, and limited new supply is leading to yield compression across the board," Mr Marasco said.

The drive for developable land saw $6.45 billion in assets change hands in the 2015 financial year, up 56 per cent on the previous year.

Malcom Tyson, managing director of industrial at Colliers International said private investors have been net sellers as they seize the opportunity presented by the current market conditions and strong demand for quality industrial property.

The same trend is happening in the retail sector, where supply at the top level is tight, leaving investors to look at the neighbourhood shopping centres that are mainly anchored by supermarkets and discount department stores such as Target and Kmart.

Lachlan MacGillivray, head of retail investment services at Colliers International said further yield compression is expected, driven by a pricing disconnect between prime office and retail.

"This disconnect is being driven by a lack of availability of premium grade investment product in retail, in contrast to the office sector which is experiencing a steady supply and subsequently a competitive bidding processes," Mr MacGillivray said.

"Therefore, we expect to see record pricing for any quality retail assets that come to market."

Ada Choi, senior director, CBRE Research Asia Pacific, said many overseas investors consider commercial real estate in Sydney and Melbourne and similar global hotspots as attractive investments with limited downside risk, due in part to the relative affordability of stable income assets compared to available domestic stock.

"As more Asian investors are looking abroad to diversify a growing pool of domestic wealth, overseas market dynamics such as stable fundamentals, regulatory support and market transparency will continue to drive them to pursue offshore opportunities," Ms Choi said.

The hotel market was also in hot demand as the Sydney Westin and Hilton hotels changed hands during the first half of calendar 2015.

Craig Collins, chief executive of Australasia, at JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group said in the first half of calendar 2015 sales volumes have reached about $1.9 billion, a 150 per cent increase over the same period last year.

He said the volumes so far this year have almost reached that of the record $2.5 billion that transacted in all of 2014.

"Continuing the trend over the last three years, Asian investors have dominated hotel investment activity accounting for about 65 per cent of total transaction volume, year-to-date," Mr Collins said.

"It is expected that Australia will continue to be a major focus of Asian-based investors with favourable exchange rates and a strong tourism demand outlook presenting a more attractive investment opportunity when compared to other investment destinations globally."