NORTH AMERICA - Private real estate funds in the market are led by two major regions, the US and Europe, according to the latest Real Estate Fundraising Report by the Townsend Group.
The report indicates that there are a total of 562 private real estate funds currently in the market.
Of these, 379 (67.4%) are in the developed Americas region; the second largest contingent is in the developed Europe region, with 70 funds (12.4%).
None of these funds is not having an easy time raising capital, according to Townsend. Tear to date, the amount of capital raised for close-end commingled funds has been around $6bn (€4.7bn).
By contrast, real estate managers worldwide are currently seeking approximately $90bn of capital.
Townsend said capital raising was especially difficult for new managers, or existing managers planning to venture into new property types.
Boston-based Great Point Investors is experiencing this with its move into senior housing for the first time.
Gary Schwandt, a principal at Great Point, said: "It's hard to attract new capital into a new property type. We are going to have to make a decision soon as to whether it would be better for a commingled fund or separate account."
Great Point has a history of being an investor in mostly value-added office and industrial properties and some apartment development.
The Townsend report also found that entry queues for open-ended commingled funds have been dropping.
The queues were at around $6.5bn through the March of this year - they had been at nearly $7.75bn through September of 2011.
A main reason for this has been that some of the larger core, open-ended funds have been investing capital in new purchases.
One of these has been the JP Morgan Strategic Property fund, where the entry queue is now done to $1bn after it recently closed on a number of acquisitions.
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