First quarter 2015 saw the highest fundraising volume since third quarter 2008, according to Institutional Real Estate, Inc’s FundTracker database. The quarterly volume of US$31.9 billion ranked as the highest first-quarter total since FundTracker began collecting data in 2007.

Now that second-quarter figures are in, we can start thinking the first-quarter numbers might be part of a trend, as fundraising in second quarter 2015 continued the record pace. The US$28.4 billion total capital reported by funds holding final closings in April, May or June is the most of any second quarter since 2008.

While the first-quarter total received a significant boost from the close of the record-setting US$15.8 billion Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII, which accounted for almost half of the total raised that quarter, the second quarter relied on the sheer volume of funds closing for its higher-than-normal total. Thirty-nine funds closed in second quarter 2015 compared to 27 fund