CRE Fundraising on the Rise as Investors Return

January 23, 2026

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Here’s the latest on which asset categories and strategies are gaining ground, according to a PERE report.

For the first time since 2021, private real estate fundraising increased year-over-year in 2025, according to PERE’s latest fundraising report. Last year, investors raised $222 billion, up 29 percent compared to 2024.

However, private equity giants Brookfield and Blackstone propped that volume up, accounting for 16.0 percent of all capital raised in 2025. For reference, the duo made up just 0.8 percent of funds raised in 2024, which incidentally was the worst year since 2020.

In fact, Brookfield closed the biggest fund of 2025, at $16 billion. Blackstone came in second with an $11 billion opportunistic investment vehicle, but also fourth with an $8 billion debt fund.

Several noteworthy shifts occurred last year. Data center demand eclipsed all other sectors, accounting for 37 percent of capital raised, up from just 2 percent in 2024. Funds included Blue Owl’s $7 billion and Principal Financial Group’s $3.6 billion investment vehicles.

Some of the asset classes that lost ground included multifamily (32 percent of all capital raised in 2025, down from 49 percent in 2024), industrial (16 percent, down from 26 percent), office (2 percent, down from 6 percent). Notably, retail garnered more interest in 2025 (5 percent, up from 1 percent in 2024), as well as student housing (3 percent, up from 1 percent).

Strategies witnessed a shake-up as well. Opportunistic funds attracted 33 percent of capital in 2025, up from 18 percent in 2024, while core-plus stood at 10 percent, up from 5 percent. Value-add (22 percent, down from 30 percent) and debt strategies (24 percent, down from 31 percent) fared consistently better in 2024 than they did last year.

As for vehicles still in the market going into 2026, only one hits the $10 billion mark as a target: Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund XIII. Tied in second place, Blue Owl and Strategic Value Partners currently have funds targeting $6.5 billion each.

CRE fundraising takes longer, but goals are met

While last year marked a rebound in volume, that doesn’t necessarily mean investors committed at a swifter pace. The average time to close a fund clocked in at 25 months for vehicles that wrapped up in 2025, up from 23.7 months in 2024. That nearly doubled the averages of 2020 (15.1 months) and 2021 (15.2 months).

Even so, funds reached their targets. More than half, 52 percent, of investment vehicles were on or above target in 2025, up from just 39 percent in 2024 and 44 percent in 2023. What’s more, eight of the top 10 investment vehicles that closed in 2025 exceeded their targets.

Domestic investment continued to dominate, with $89.2 billion raised strictly for North American investment, followed by multi-region strategies ($69.9 billion) and Europe-centric vehicles ($40.6 billion).