Fundraising volume in 2022 has been relatively mediocre through the first nine months of the year, but that could change if the fourth quarter delivers some potential blockbuster closings.

During third quarter 2022, 28 private equity real estate funds announced final closings, raising an aggregate of $21.2 billion, according to Institutional Real Estate, Inc.’s IREI.Q database. The quarterly volume pushes the year-to-date fundraising total to $76.9 billion, which is 17.8 percent less than the comparative 2021 and 2020 totals, both of which registered $93.5 billion. The 2022 total is the lowest nine-month dollar volume since 2017’s $18.2 billion figure. In addition, only 106 funds have closed this year, which pales in comparison with the 2021 total of 167. The average fund size year-to-date in 2022 is $725 million, down significantly from the previous year’s average size of $961 million.

However, the tepid year-to-date fundraising volume could soon be forgotten. A