SINGAPORE'S property market is the hottest in the world for major real estate investments, according to a new study by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

Astounding rental growth and rising values were cited as reasons for the strong showing for the first half of this year.

Capital values of prime property here have soared 50 per cent in the past six months alone, said JLL's report, which tracks properties that sell for more than US$5 million (S$7.6 million) worldwide. Most of these are commercial buildings.

The full report will only be out next month, but the firm released a brief summary of some of its findings yesterday.

It showed that property investments around the world rose for the 16th quarter in a row, reaching a record US$382 billion in the first half of this year. This is up 17 per cent from a year ago.

The bulk of these deals were made in the United States, where investments jumped 32 per cent to US$171 billion. In Europe, they rose 4 per cent to US$157 billion.

As for the Asia-Pacific, property investments climbed 12 per cent to US$55 billion.