Outbound investment from China to the rest of the world's real estate markets grew in the first five months of 2016, figures show.

Flows of Chinese investments into overseas properties have accelerated this year and the country has become a larger global player in the field, according to data from commercial real estate services firm DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield.

Figures show that Chinese-sourced investment outside the country reached $17 billion in the first five months of this year, equal to 65.6 per cent of all such outward-bound investment last year.

The China Outbound Investment CapitalWatch report states that China was the world's second largest source of outbound property investment after the US at $19 billion. China moved up three spots from the end of last year, when the country ranked fifth behind the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Decelerating Chinese growth and a desire for more international diversification by wealthy Chinese investors have been cited as reasons for outflows of money from the world’s second-largest economy in recent months.

As for investment by destination, 62.3 per cent of Chinese outbound property investment totaling $10.6 billion went to the US during the first five months of this year. New York City was the hottest overseas target for Chinese property investors, receiving an estimated $3.5 billion of capital over the first five months of 2016, the report said.

"The wave of Chinese investment to the US has far outpaced last year's total of $4.37 billion by 143 per cent thanks to dollar appreciation and a recovering US economy,” said James Shepherd, managing director, research for Greater China at the firm.

Most recently, Chinese interest in buying UK property was boosted by the fall in the sterling exchange rate because of the 23 June UK vote to leave the European Union.

In a separate report from UK-based Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth, the UK has seen a surge of interest from Chinese investors, encouraged by the fall in the sterling exchange rate since the Brexit vote, which has made UK properties cheaper in relative terms. China’s biggest international property website, Juwai, said enquiries about UK property from Chinese buyers have been 40 per cent higher than average in the four weeks since the historic vote for Britain to leave the EU, IMPW said in a note. 

“The fall in the value of sterling against the yuan since the EU referendum represents a healthy discount to Chinese investors looking to buy property in the UK. We’ve seen noticeably more interest from people in China and the Middle East looking for advice regarding investments here," said Nick Rucker, partner.

However, the firm also says it has seen a fall in Chinese investment into the US in the 12 months to the end of March this year, a point that to some extent goes against the DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield comments about US inflows from China buyers.