Third quarter 2018 saw real estate investment funds continue the rollercoaster trend of recent fundraising, which has been up and down over the past few years. Although numbers have been up and down, early numbers show a quarter well ahead of third quarter 2017. Funds reaching a final close in third quarter 2018 raised a total of $28.6 billion compared with $18.3 billion raised during third quarter 2017.

Not only are the fundraising total ahead of third quarter 2017’s total, the combined total for the first three quarters of 2018, $85.3 billion, is the highest it has been since the first three quarters of 2015, $92.1 billion.

Looking back to the first two quarters of 2018, first quarter saw a major jumpstart to the year with 32 funds raising a fundraising total of $26.2 billion, compared to first quarter 2017’s $17.8 billion. Second quarter 2018 saw a decrease in activity at 31 funds closed raising a total of $25.4 billion, compared to second quarter 2017 having 45