The first quarter 2011 is expected to be the strongest real estate trading and performance period since 2007, according to a new report from Jones Lang LaSalle.

The Chicago-based asset manager expects investment volumes to rise between 20 percent and 25 percent this year, according to its Global Market Perspective for Q1 2011.

The report singled out Boston’s as one of the markets where prized space will come on market.

"In Europe and North America, a strong rental uplift is anticipated for many core office locations, where shortages of ‘trophy’ high-quality space will increasingly emerge. They include London’s City and West End, Moscow CBD, Paris La Défense, Washington DC’s CBD and Capitol Hill, Midtown New York, SOMA in San Francisco, and Boston’s Back Bay and Financial District," the report said.

Elsewhere, rental stability will be the main theme for 2011, with the majority of markets in North America still a couple of quarters from reaching the bottom, the report said.

Boston Properties’ purchase of the John Hancock Tower in December was one of the key transactions in 2010, the report said. The building was bought in a joint venture of Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners for $930 million.