There are stark variations in performance across regions and property types, according to the Global Cities Index’s third-quarter results. The index, produced by IPD, an MSCI company, tracks the total returns of more than 60,000 buildings across 60 investment markets; the method used enables IPD to make direct cross-border comparisons.

The variation in total returns was greatest in North America, where spreads exceeded 500 basis points for the primary markets of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto. The office market is lagging other sectors where annual returns ranged between 7.5 percent and 8.0 percent during third quarter 2012. Chicago and Toronto’s apartment markets continued their strong 2012 performance, leading other sectors with total returns around 16 percent. At least for