One of the latest sold  was by the privately owned Surry Hills Shopping Village, which was said to have gone for just under $100 million through Scott Timbrell and Jeff Moxham, of Ray White Commercial NSW. The agents declined to comment on the details.

Another on the market is the Centrepoint Shopping Centre in Tamworth, being sold through Cushman & Wakefield's Nicholas Potter and Sashi Makkapati.

Centrepoint Shopping Centre is located in the heart of Tamworth and comprises a total GLA of approximately 9188 sqm. It is anchored by an ALDI Supermarket, JB Hi Fi and a Box Office Cinema/Theatre complex which boasts five cinema screens.

The  Commercial Property Corporation of an outlet centre in the outer Melbourne suburb of Nunawading is tipped to transact for about $75 million.

The family has put the Brand Smart Premium Outlet Centre on the block through Simon Rooney of JLL and Mark Wizel of CBRE Victorian Retail Investments.

Driven by an unprecedented weight of capital from domestic and overseas sources, with a particular appetite for sub-regional and neighbourhood shopping centres, total retail investment activity for major retail assets (over $10 million) was a massive $7.4 billion in 2014, according to Cushman & Wakefield research.

Cushman and Wakefield recorded 134 major retail investment transactions (over $10 million) in 2014, with activity strong across all asset sub-classes and investment risk spectrum.

Sub-regional and neighbourhood shopping centres were in high demand due to their relatively softer yields and exposure to non-discretionary retailing. The sub-regional category accounted for over $2.8 billion of assets traded throughout the year, followed by neighbourhood centres with almost $2billion transacted.

The Cushman & Wakefield Australian Retail Investment Review and Outlook report shows institutional investors were the dominant force in the market in 2014, representing more than 65 per cent of all purchases.

The US was the biggest foreign buyer of Australia retail property by value, followed by Singapore and China. In all, offshore investors were net buyers of over $400 million over the course of the year.

Cushman & Wakefield national research manager Dr Alex Pham said strong investment activity last year is a reflection of the positive investor sentiment in the market.

Sashi Makkapati, Cushman & Wakefield senior director national retail investments said retail investment activity in 2015 is shaping up for another strong year as the compression of yields in metropolitan locations and city centres increasingly push investors to regional towns in search for higher yields.

"Investor sentiment is upbeat, especially for sub-regional and neighbourhood centres that rely on non-discretionary retail. Interest rates are at record lows and 2014 saw a pick-up in discretionary spending as well, further augmenting investor confidence in the sector," Mr Makkipati said.

Cushman & Wakefield senior director national retail investments Nick Potter said institutional investors were demonstrating increased interest in retail centres in integrated developments in the current climate.