As the third quarter came to a close, the real estate fundraising market was one of cautious optimism. A thawing of the real estate transaction market — as valuations settle in at a new, lower level, and lenders loosen their pocketbooks to compete for deals — has meant distributions from open-end funds and previous vintages, allowing investors to consider putting more capital to work. At the same time, a run-up in equities markets has removed any denominator concerns. Meanwhile, the market has had a moment to absorb some of the uncertainty stirred up by US policy changes as a new administration has taken the helm.

Some 26 closed-end real estate funds held a final close in the third quarter, raising US$20.1 billion, according to Institutional Real Estate, Inc’s IRE.IQ database — similar to the 28 funds that raised US$24.5 billion in the second quarter. With first quarter’s stunning US$50.9 billion in fundraising by 30 funds, the year-to-date total has reached 84 fund