Property investment transactions will fall by a third this year to $500bn (€632bn) after the value of global deals dropped by 50% in the first quarter of the year, according to new research.

In a largely pessimistic report, property adviser DTZ said that the real estate capital market grew to $12 trillion last year, and deals grew to $730bn in value. However, the value of deals in the first quarter of this year has dropped by half compared to the same period last year.