That whoosh you just heard? It's Chinese money pulling back from property in London to Sydney to New York.

Capital centres globally should brace for tumbling real-estate prices as Beijing manages to do what Brexit and higher interest rates haven't.

Reflecting tighter regulations, China overseas direct property investment could drop 84 per cent to $US1.7 billion ($2.15 billion) this year and about another 15 per cent to $US1.4 billion in 2018, according to Morgan Stanley.

Mainland money began piling into offshore commercial property in 2013. Land prices were expensive at home, and investors wanted to find a hedge against a weakening yuan.