For the last two-plus years we have been doing just about everything but regular blind-pool fundraising for the most part,” says John Ferguson, co-chair of real estate at Boston-based Goodwin. “That feels like it turned, from our vantage point, pretty noticeably in quarter four into the new year in quarter one.” Ferguson believes the uptick in capital raising from traditional funds is indicative of a real estate recovery. Goodwin advised on 15 funds with an aggregate value of $15.6 billion from October 2023 to September 2024, according to PERE’s 2025 analysis of the most active real estate fund formation law firms. The firm placed second in PERE’s study both in terms of total value and number of funds advised. “Some are saying ‘stay alive in ‘25,’” says Ferguson. “I am a ‘thrive in ‘25’ person. There’s a lot of dry powder, and there’s a lot of pent-up opportunity.” Additionally, an increase in transactions will lead to a corresponding increase in distributions, he adds. Read the PERE article for more.