An open-end private equity real estate fund has an indefinite life and may issue additional shares to accommodate new investors, or to finance new investments in emergent property sectors. Participants in the open-end fund can (usually) purchase or redeem shares at will, pursuant to fund conditions, although generally there are initial lock-up periods. Share prices are based on appraised net asset value (NAV) and not market values as determined minute by minute on Wall Street.

Real estate is an essential component of diversified portfolios, offering key investment benefits — stable income, potentially attractive long-term real returns, resilience to inflation and portfolio diversification — that may be valuable to individual and institutional investors. What was once a private market geared toward institutions and wealthy individuals investing directly in individual properties is now dominated by various types of professionally managed pooled investment vehicles operating at scale across sectors and geographies.

LaSalle published the global chapter of the ISA Outlook 2024 on Nov. 14, 2023, just before euphoria about a potential V-shaped property market turnaround emerged. Interest rates fell quickly as financial markets priced in several U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cuts in 2024. For a time, it looked as though LaSalle’s prediction that real estate markets would take some time to digest higher rates would be wide off the mark.

The U.S. aging population has never grown as fast or been as large as it is right now, and this unprecedented demographic mega-trend is only now beginning.

Many Americans are saddled with debt; delinquency rates on credit cards and auto loans are at a 10-year high, more than 43 million Americans owe $1.6 trillion in federal student loans, and the interest rate for such loans just hit a 12-year high. At the same time, housing costs keep climbing higher.

KKR has acquired a portfolio of 18 multifamily assets from a closed-ended fund sponsored by Quarterra Multifamily, a premier multifamily real estate development and operating company, for approximately $2.1 billion.

Walker & Dunlop Investment Partners (WDIP) has announced it plans to double the size of its programmatic joint venture with Ivanhoé Cambridge, to $500 million. The partnership, initially formed in 2021, intends to make preferred equity investments in residential asset classes across the United States.

Equity Residential has agreed to acquire 11 apartment properties from Blackstone Real Estate strategies in separate transactions, including Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Property Partners, for approximately $964 million.

Manulife Investment Management (Manulife IM) has announced a strategic partnership with Foundry Commercial to acquire, develop, and lease industrial outdoor storage (IOS) sites in key infill industrial markets throughout the Southeast.

The Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois (TRSIL) has made a commitment of $300 million to Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund XIII Global, managed by Starwood Capital Group.

Demand for data center capacity will remain strong for at least the next five years, predicts a July 23 report from Moody’s Ratings, helping REITs Digital Realty Trust and Equinix to grow their portfolios and uphold key credit metrics.