These commercial transactions took place in both the industrial and office sectors.

In the office sector, 12 deals generated between £130m-140m, with major transactions including Columbia Threadneedle’s acquisition of Fusion, Solent Business Park, for £30m and Tristan Capital’s purchase of Forum for £40m.

The industrial sector netted £200m worth of transactions in 2016, which included Blackrock’s funding of Alpha Park, Chandlers Ford, for approximately £20m, and DTZIM’s purchase of Railway Triangle, Portsmouth, for £31m.

Jerry Vigus, director of capital markets for Lambert Smith Hampton on the south coast, said: "2016 was a turbulent year following the Brexit vote in June, which created uncertainty in the market.

“However, by September, activity returned and yields were restored to the levels achieved at the beginning of the year.

“There was a period between June and August where investors were able to take advantage of the retail funds selling assets.

"2017 has started how 2016 finished, with the majority of investors focusing on the industrial and logistics sector due to occupier demand, shortage of available buildings to let and rents still showing signs of increasing.”