The United Kingdom is still the top country of origin for moves to the United States, according to a new study, which also found that there were more moves into the U.S. from international locations in 2013 than moves out of the U.S.

"The U.S. only saw a moving deficit to two of the countries on the top destination and origin lists, demonstrating the U.S. economy's international strength," said Michael Stoll, economist, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California in Los Angeles.

UniGroup Relation's International Migration Study further found that the top destinations for U.S. residents moving abroad were Germany, the U.K., France, Switzerland and for the first time, Malaysia made the list as a top destination country for U.S. Citizens.

"Our moving data offers a glimpse into global migration trends," said Rich McClure, president with UniGroup.

In the Asia Pacific region, China, Singapore and India saw the most activity from the U.S. For the first time in four years, there were more moves from China to the U.S. than moves from U.S. to China.

"Employment opportunities are in general, robust; however, conditions do vary significantly and some cities are struggling to create sustainable employment growth, while other cities have issues of underemployment," said Jeremy Kelly, global head of research with Jones Lang LaSalle.

According to recent research from Jones Lang LaSalle, real estate investment is a major factor in city success with capital investment boosting demand in super cities such as London, Paris, Tokyo and New York.

"Investors are allocating more capital to real estate today but focusing on a specific set of cities globally," said Dyer. "This has created an increase in demand for the limited stock of prime properties in super cities, the world's most attractive real estate markets."

Super cities are defined as the largest, most internationally connected cities with very deep corporate bases and high levels of real estate liquidity while second-tier cities are mature cities with lower levels of international business activity.

Second tier cities, such as Seattle, are catching up as real estate investors expand into new geographies.

"Investors are moving along the risk curve into second-tier markets, which are becoming more conscious of how real estate can make them more attractive to investors," Dyer said. "The most successful markets share characteristics like transparency, good governance, strong education systems and innovative city planning."