Fourth quarter 2017 gave it the good ol’ college try but, in the end, fell short of bringing 2017 private-equity real estate fundraising across the finish line ahead of the total raised in 2016 (which fell about 10 percent below 2015’s capital raising aggregate). Fourth quarter 2017 saw 26 private-equity real estate funds record final closings, raising an aggregate total of $26.6 billion, according to IREI’s FundTracker database. This represents about $600 million more than the amount raised in fourth quarter 2016. However, 19 more funds closed in fourth quarter 2016 than the same period 2017. This jump in the number of funds closing in 2016 — without a proportional jump in capital raised — seems to be based on the continued strength of the residential sector. Accessing multifamily and single-family assets does not require the size bites that other asset classes do, so funds do not need to be as large. Six residential fun
