Birmingham has maintained its position as one of the highest-ranking UK cities for investment prospects, according to a new report.

The research has placed the city in joint 21st position among its domestic and European counterparts for its overall investment prospects in 2018.

It sits just one place below Manchester but above Edinburgh (26th) and London (27th) in the '2018 Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe' report, published by financial services firm PwC and thinktank Urban Land Institute.

The analysis is based on the opinions of more than 800 real estate professionals in Europe including investors, developers, lenders, agents and consultants.

The report suggests Birmingham's position could be partly due to investors' cautiousness about an overpriced and over-reliant financial services sector in London, with regional cities being seen to provide better growth prospects in the short term.

However, in the long term, Brexit uncertainty continues to colour the UK's regional real estate markets, the report says.

Birmingham has secured two major inward investments in recent years with the news that HSBC UK is creating a new headquarters at the Arena Central development in the city where it will be joined by a new regional hub for HMRC.

This is alongside countless other companies relocating to the city and work starting on the HS2 high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham.

PwC's Midlands chairman Matthew Hammond said: "Investor sentiment in the city has received a boost from the election of a new mayor, the negotiations around a second devolution deal and the progress of the many infrastructure projects taking shape in the city.

"Birmingham still remains one of the highest-performing UK cities ahead of Edinburgh and London.

"This report reveals that investors are focusing on cities and assets rather than countries and, like regional centres in a number of other European countries, Birmingham offers good value, unrivalled transport links and is located at the heart of the UK's distribution network."

There are 31 European cities ranked in the list. They are:

1) Berlin

=2) Copenhagen

=2) Frankfurt

4) Munich

5) Madrid

6) Hamburg

7) Dublin

8) Stockholm

9) Luxembourg

10) Amsterdam

=11) Barcelona

=11) Lisbon

13) Vienna

14) Paris

15) Prague

16) Oslo

17) Milan

18) Helsinki

19) Budapest

20) Manchester

=21) Birmingham

=21) Lyon

23) Warsaw

24) Zurich

25) Brussels

26) Edinburgh

27) London

28) Rome

29) Athens

Show more

30) Moscow

31) Istanbul