LONDON—More capital was distributed to private real estate fundinvestors in 2013 than in any year previously, with a total of $138billion returned to investors globally as a result of managersselling assets, Preqin said Thursday. That's morethan double the $67 billion they received in 2012.

“The increase in valuations in many real estate markets aroundthe world, and improving confidence leading to a good supply ofpotential buyers, has enabled fund managers to realize many oftheir investments,” says Andrew Moylan, head ofreal assets products for Preqin, headquartered in London and NewYork City. “2013 was a record year in terms of distributions toinvestors and the first year since 2003 in which the amount ofcapital distributed to limited partners exceeded the amount ofcapital called up to make new investments.” Accordingly, Moylansays, “these institutional investors have more capital available toreinvest in real estate funds, and many plan to place large amountsinto private real estate funds in the coming year.”

With an uptick in capital distributions, many investors havebeen able to re-invest previously tied up capital into new funds,further bolstering the private real estate fundraising market. As aresult, Preqin's recent investor survey revealed that institutionalcommitments to commercial real estate increasedover the past year, with 52% of investors surveyed last monthsaying that they had committed to real estate funds in the previous12 months, more than in any other period since December 2009.