Private real estate compensation is no longer treading water. After a sluggish start to 2025, pay is beginning to move again, with early signs that fundraising momentum is translating into modest but broad-based gains across senior roles.
A new real estate compensation report from executive search firm Sousou Partners and PERE points to a market that is stabilizing rather than surging, with incremental increases in base pay and steady upside driven by bonuses at the top end. The data suggests a return of confidence, even if firms remain cautious about committing to aggressive salary growth.
"It definitely felt like recovery mode," Serene Hamzawi, managing partner at Sousou Partners, told PERE, noting how 2025 started slowly out of the gate.
"Nobody was expecting a speedy recovery, but there was definitely more optimism."
That optimism is most clearly reflected in total compensation, where improved fundraising conditions helped drive a 4% increase in average median growth, according to Sousou Partners and PERE. While base salary growth remains muted in many roles, bonuses and carried interest expectations are doing more of the heavy lifting, particularly at the senior end of the market.
In private equity acquisitions, top leadership roles continue to command outsized pay. Heads of platform or regional leaders saw total compensation reach as high as $4.8 million, with a median of $1.85 million and a low of $1.05 million, even as base salary growth remained flat to modest. Managing directors with at least 15 years of experience earned up to $1.93 million, with a median of $1.15 million, while directors in the 10-to-14-year range saw compensation peak at $1.13 million.
Asset management roles tell a similar story of steady, if unspectacular, growth. In private equity asset management, managing directors earned as much as $1.6 million, with a median of $985,000, while directors reached $1.25 million at the high end. Investment managers posted slightly lower ranges, with heads of platform or region in acquisitions topping out at $1.7 million and managing directors earning up to $1.13 million.
The pattern across these roles reflects a market that is recalibrating rather than rebounding sharply. Firms appear willing to reward performance and retain senior talent but are still holding the line on fixed costs, particularly base salaries.
That restraint is less evident in certain specialized roles. CFOs of portfolio companies saw some of the strongest base salary growth in the report, with increases of 8% at the high end and 6% at the median, bringing total compensation to as much as $450,000. The gains suggest continued demand for financial leadership as firms navigate more complex operating environments.
Capital raising roles also remain highly compensated, underscoring the premium placed on securing investor commitments in a still-competitive fundraising landscape. Managing directors in these roles earned up to $2.3 million, with a median of $950,000, while directors earned up to $1.25 million.
Across functions, the strongest average median pay growth between 2024 and 2025 was recorded among CFOs of portfolio companies at 7%, followed by private equity acquisitions at 4.6% and investment management at 4.5%, according to Sousou Partners and PERE. Capital raisers saw 4.25% growth, with more modest increases in investment management acquisitions and private equity asset management.
Taken together, the data paints a picture of a compensation landscape that is stabilizing alongside the broader private real estate market. Pay is rising again, but selectively and with discipline, reflecting a sector that is regaining its footing without fully shaking off the caution of the past two years.
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