Over the past few years, post-Global Financial Crisis, we have seen the fundraising environment slowly improve along with the U.S. economy and property markets. The real estate asset class, with its stable income and relatively high yield, has grown in popularity and is attracting greater capital flows from investors around the globe. We don’t know what exactly is in store for 2015 and beyond, but we can take a look back and see what led us to this point.

2012

Looking back to 2012, fundraising activity surged in fourth quarter to $24.2 billion, the highest mark since third quarter 2008, when investment managers raised more than $36 billion of equity capital. With 100 funds closed, the 12-month total of $60.7 billion represented a recent high-water mark, last eclipsed in 2008 at the market peak when the annual figure totaled nearly $135 billion.

The numbers at the end of the year were impressive because at the beginning of 2012, fun