As mentioned a few weeks ago in our first look at Q3 real estate fundraising, there is a big possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic is beginning to have an impact on real estate fundraising activity, given some investors’ reluctance to commit capital without a face-to-face meeting. But while preliminary data for the third quarter indicates a dropoff from the previous quarter ($43.6 billion was raised by funds closing in the second quarter), it is actually an increase on a year-over-year basis. The $23.2 billion raised by funds that closed in third quarter 2020 exceeds the $19.9 billion raised by funds that closed in third quarter 2019.

A total of 36 new investment funds were launched during third quarter 2020, continuing the investment fund launching total rollercoaster that has been happening over the past few years. This hasn’t been the highest number of fund launchings in 2020, but the number does surpass the number of funds launched in second quarter 2020, 31 funds, and the number of funds launched in third quarter 2018, 35 funds. The new funds launched during third quarter 2020 are seeking an aggregate fundraising target of $21 billion.