Introduction
Total capital raised in the first six months of the year dropped to its third lowest in more than 10 years (Figure 1). This marks a reversal in industry sentiment compared to just six months ago before conflict in the Middle East began in February, creating uncertainty that made investors review interest rate expectations and portfolio allocations accordingly.
Geopolitical volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty led to the third lowest fundraising total in 10 years for a six-month period, with 95 closed-end real estate funds raising $82 billion. Only H1 and H2 2024 saw a lower fundraising environment.
Capital concentration remained a defining feature of real estate fundraising in H1 2026. The 10 largest funds accounted for 49% of total capital raised (Figure 2), while the top 20 funds accounted for 69% of total capital raised in the first six months of the year.
Top 20
Starwood Capital closed its 13th vintage at $10.2 billion, marking the largest real estate fund closed in H1 2026 (Figure 3), followed by Kayne Anderson Real Estate Partners VII at $5.1 billion and EQT Exeter Europe Logistics Value Fund V.
Only Bain Capital Real Estate Fund III, LBA Logistics Value Fund X and Bridge Logistics Value Fund II missed their targets in the top 20 funds.
The importance of track record stands out even more in fundraising by series (Figure 4). Among the top 20 largest funds closed in H1 2026, only two – Digital Realty US Hyperscale Data Center Fund and Core Spaces Student Housing Fund – are first-time funds, signaling a strong invesotr appetite for these sectors. First-time vehicles appear more often in final closes collecting the remaining 20% of total capital raised by non-top funds in H1 2026.
Vintage Year
The importance of pedigree is also supported by vintage year data. Most of the capital ($55 billion) was raised by 2023 and 2024 vintages, which were 29 in total (Figure 5).
This has stretched the average fundraising time on the marketing trail even further, pushing it to between 24 and 26 months.
Meanwhile, the majority of funds launched in 2025 and 2026 – with the notable exceptions of EQT Exeter Europe Logistics Value Fund V, Digital Realty US Hyperscale Data Center Fund and Stoneshield Opportunity Fund IV and Core Spaces IV – raised under $500 million in allocator commitments per vehicle.
2023 and 2024 vintages attracted roughly $55 billion in H1 2026—more than three times the capital raised by 2025 and 2026 vintages combined.
Strategy
Value-add and opportunistic strategies again took the lion’s share of fundraising in H1 2026, raising 76% of total investor commitments as they keep concentrating their portfolios in real estate strategies offering higher returns (Figure 6).
All the top 10 funds have deployed either an opportunistic (and distressed) or a value-add investment approach.
Real estate debt, which has seen the launch of several funds in the past years to replace traditional lenders, saw its second consecutive drop, falling from $20 billion to $16 billion. Of that, Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund XIII, Benefit Street Partners Real Estate Opportunistic Debt Fund II, Berkshire Multifamily Credit Fund IV and VWH Partners IV all have elements of a debt strategy.
Furthermore, despite the disappearance of real estate secondaries from total fundraising, With Intelligence has covered a number of first and interim closes in H1 which suggests that its retreat is only temporary.
Sector
Diversified strategies are still dominating fundraising by collecting $50.7 billion, or 56%, of the total (Figure 7).
In a market that remains volatile and subject to macro headwinds – geopolitical instability, volatile interest rates and inflation environment – investors are more comfortable allocating capital to a broad range of sectors rather than going down the specialist strategy route. There is still demand for specialist sectors, such as data centers and student housing. Six out of the top 10 funds employed a diversified strategy.
Industrial and residential were the most prominent specialist strategies, attracting the remaining capital raised in H1 2026. Of this, EQT Exeter Europe Logistics Value Fund V, Digital Realty U.S. Hyperscale Data Center Fund and Greystar Equity Partners Europe II have attracted $10 billion, or 27%.
Investment Region
Allocators are leaning heavily towards funds targeting North American real estate. Closed-end vehicles investing in this region attracted $53.6 billion in H1 2026 (Figure 9).
Funds targeting Europe raised $14.8 billion, led by EQT and Greystar, while fundraising for multi-regional and global strategies fell.
After the final close of Starwood’s 13th flagship fund at $10.2 billion, there are currently no funds targeting above $10 billion on the market. Half of the largest vehicles on the fundraising trail were launched in H1, suggesting established players are still lining up new commitments and re-ups from their investor base. The funds raising the most capital were funds IV and above.
Funds in Market
After the final close of Starwood’s 13th flagship fund at $10.2 billion, there are no real estate funds targeting above $10bn in investor commitments on the market (Figure 10).
Half of the largest vehicles on the fundraising trail launched in H1, which suggests that established players are still lining up new commitments and re-ups from their investor base despite difficulties in the fundraising environment. The top strategies in the market consist of established fund series (Fund IV and above), corroborating current trends of capital concentration.
All the funds deploy either a value-add or opportunistic investment strategy, investing in equity, apart from Brookfield’s fund. Half of them target US/North American assets, three vehicles invest globally, while two funds focus on Europe.
All of them offer a diversified investment approach when it comes to sectors, with the exception of EQT, the only manager targeting a specialized strategy investing in industrial.
Meanwhile, Ares Management is the only manager in the top 10 targeting real estate secondaries, a strategy that has been growing while remaining a relatively small sector.
Methodology
Includes all fund closes tracked by With Intelligence in H1 2026, through the stories and signals published by reporters and data researchers throughout the year. Some of the fund closes have been included through press releases and direct manager reporting to With Intelligence. Funds that were raised in local currencies have been converted to USD ($) at local FX rates as of 30/06/2026.
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