Multifamily is remaining the preferred CRE fundraising asset class, capturing almost 65% of all capital raised last year. The residential sector captured 16% of capital raised, while industrial was at 13% and retail accounted for 6%, according to Agora’s 2025 CRE fundraising market report, which analyzed fundraising trends, asset performance and regional investment patterns in 2024.
The study focused on four asset classes, including multifamily, industrial, retail and residential, using data from more than 600 U.S. real estate investment firms. Returns were the highest during the first half of the year, while fundraising activity increased during the second half of the year. Most asset classes and regions saw decreased returns and lower capital raises during the fourth quarter, the study found.
Multifamily provided more than half of total returns across the four asset classes studied, and when combined with residential investments, the two sectors delivered more than 81% of returns. This was driven by strong rental growth and continued housing affordability challenges that pushed rents up about 1% on average, said Agora. Residential categories like build-to-rent contributed nearly a quarter of returns as rents increased 1.5%.
Industrial returns were about 12% and retail returns were roughly 8%.
Comparing quarterly trends, Agora found that multifamily investments captured between 47% and 68% of all projects throughout the year, leading all sectors. Industrial growth increased from 11% during the first quarter to 23% during the fourth quarter. Residential stayed consistent with between 13% and 17% of projects and retail’s performance varied throughout the year, growing to 16% in the second quarter before falling to 7% in the fourth quarter.
Multifamily returns were the strongest through the first three quarters but dropped to 41% in the fourth quarter, while residential returns increased throughout the year. Retail and industrial returns remained below 15% throughout the year.
Of the five regions Agora studied, the Southeast raised the largest share of capital at 42% and provided more than 28% of returns. Florida secured 15.72% of capital for the year to lead all states. Additionally, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia were all fundraising leaders. New York led the Northeast at 6% and Illinois captured 4% of the capital. Oregon, South Dakota and Nevada rounded out the top 10 states for capital raised, accounting for 59% of total investments.
Texas led CRE investment returns at 16%, followed by New York at 10% and California at 8%. The top 10 states, which also included Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Illinois, represented 63% of the total CRE investment returns.
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