European real estate investment funds are expected to rebound in 2025, driven by improved demand, a poll of industry executives has found.
Managers are eyeing new markets for fundraising and increased use of artificial intelligence and outsourcing, according to a Carne Group survey released Thursday.
“European private real estate is experiencing something of a renaissance,” Des Fullam, chief regulatory and client solutions officer at Carne Group and one of the report’s authors, said in a press release. “Stronger GDP growth, declining unemployment and demographic shifts are reinforcing Europe’s appeal.”
The report stated that growth in the property market was particularly being driven by generative AI, which “is creating unprecedented demand for data centres,” “ageing populations” which “are fuelling the need for senior living accommodation,” government-backed “affordable housing” schemes and “a massive undersupply in sustainable buildings in the transition to a net zero economy”.
Eight out of ten real estate fund managers “expect new capital inflows will increase this year,” with a third expecting a “dramatic” increase, “reflecting an improvement in lending and transactional markets”. Nine out of ten “expect the number of fund launches to be higher this year compared to 2024.”
The report authors noted that the poll was carried out before Donald Trump’s tariff regime took effect.
“Overseas markets are more important in 2025 than last year for all the real estate managers we spoke to,” Carne Group stated. In looking for new markets to fundraise, “almost three-quarters (72%) told us they are targeting the US and UK, attracted by high liquidity, scale and diverse opportunities.”
The report stated: “Our research reveals that many managers are still relying on manual AML processes – an approach that’s not sustainable, draining resources. But the status quo is being challenged in the name of efficiency. More than three-quarters (76%) of participating real estate managers told us they are considering outsourcing AML operations to a third party.”
Real estate investment fund managers thought that the greatest potential for the use of artificial intelligence tools were in idea generation, risk management and portfolio construction.
Carne Group, a management company, handles administrative, operational and compliance tasks on behalf of asset managers. It reported having 650 clients globally, representing more than $2 trillion (€1.7 trillion) in assets under management. The company says it has more than 600 employees worldwide, including 160 in Luxembourg.
The poll was conducted online in December 2024 and January 2025 on behalf of Carne by Pureprofile, a market research outfit, with additional research in August 2025. Pureprofile interviewed 25 senior executives – such as CEOs, CIOs, COOs and CFOs – working for European real estate investment fund managers, with a collective total of $300 billion (€261 billion) in assets under management.
A Carne poll of global private equity fund firms released in October found that managers “expect inflows to rise in 2025, with 44% anticipating a significant increase”.
A survey of European private debt firm executives published in September found nearly all expected consolidation in their segment “over the next five years with nearly three-quarters (72%) saying this will be significant”. A separate study, also published by Carne in September, found that infrastructure investment fund executives expected continued consolidation in their sector, “with nearly half predicting a sharp increase”.