INVESTMENT in offices remained robust in Shanghai in the first quarter of this year, and investor interest in retail and logistics real estate is also set to rise, major global real estate services providers said.

Four key real estate deals valued at 4.3 billion yuan (US$663 million) were concluded during the three months, with decentralized office space taking up 55 percent of the total sales amount, global property advisor Savills said in its latest quarterly report. Serviced apartments took the remainder.

"Domestic investors played an active role at the beginning of this year, concluding three deals that took up more than 80 percent of the total value," said Chester Zhang, associate director at Savills China Research. "Looking forward, retail and logistics segments are expected to see more portfolio and platform deals as international investors have a strategic interest in these sectors."