Investors in the commercial office market are increasingly being drawn to the UK regions, according to a new report by Deloitte Real Estate.

The UK Key Cities publication explores the emergence of regional offices as a focus for investors seeking higher returns.

At the same time, individual cities are recognising the need to stand apart from competing locations and bridge the gap between themselves and London.

Anthony Duggan, head of research at Deloitte Real Estate, said: "Investors are increasingly being priced out of the London real estate market and are now seeking opportunities outside the capital.

"We've seen a large number of new entrants to the UK investment market cutting their teeth in London, and we now expect to see them beginning to pursue opportunities in the regions where there is the potential for higher income yields."

Under the City Deals scheme, Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol, Newcastle and Birmingham are among the group of cities that have agreed a form of devolution in exchange for an offer to improve outcomes and efficiency.

The agreement with the government allows a city to drive its own economic strategy and make decisions on infrastructure and investment.

Newcastle, for example, is in the process of initiating a £92m investment programme which it hopes will lead to more than 13,000 jobs.

Duggan added: "We expect to see increasing activity in the UK's regional markets during 2013 with more, albeit still low, leasing deals and positive rental growth in some locations.

"Importantly, there are strong signals that there will be further investor interest in the regional office markets this year with both domestic and overseas investors looking outside London for their returns.

"It is encouraging to see the momentum that a number of these key regional centres have in terms of infrastructure and governance and we believe that this will provide a level of confidence to investors in the future performance of these local real estate markets."