Global property investment volumes have dropped for the first time in seven years as investors moved away from growing international risks, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

The property adviser reports that around $919.7bn (£742.7bn) was invested in property globally in the year to the end of June, excluding development land – down 5.7% compared with a year earlier, due to growing concerns about the potential impact of the UK’s decision leave the EU and market instability in China.

The more cautious approach to investing in property reverses years of increasing investment levels, with the decline in investment volumes spread across regions and sectors, but the question is whether this is a temporary pause or has the market peaked?”

David Hutchings, head of European investment strategy at Cushman & Wakefield, told the press: “We’re seeing an increased level of risk aversion compared with a year or two ago. Investors have gone back into their shell a bit.

“The process began last summer with the devaluation of the yuan, which made people more worried about what’s happening in China, and built up through European issues such as migration and Brexit, followed by the US elections.”

Research by Cushman & Wakefield also shows that New York has overtaken London as the city attracting most cross-border investment, due to weaker appetite for property in the English capital prompted by high prices and the Brexit vote.