Brookfield Asset Management Sells $13B Worth of Properties in 2025, Boosting Real Estate Market

Brookfield Asset Management has sold $13 billion worth of properties across the US, Spain, and Australia in 2023, compared to just $2 billion last year. CEO Lowell Baron attributes the increased activity to the market edging back towards normalized deal flow. The firm raised $5.9 billion in Q1 for its flagship real estate fund, which now totals $16 billion. Demand is rebounding for data centers, housing, and logistics assets, but older office buildings still face challenges. Brookfield is doubling down on select opportunities, particularly in high-end urban markets.

Brookfield Asset Management has experienced a significant uptick in real estate sales in 2023, with $13 billion worth of properties sold across the US, Spain, and Australia, compared to just $2 billion in 2022. This increase is attributed to the market edging back towards normalized deal flow, according to Lowell Baron, the new CEO of Brookfield Asset Management’s real estate business [1].

The firm's flagship real estate fund has also seen robust fundraising, with $5.9 billion raised in the first quarter of 2023, bringing the total to $16 billion. This capital infusion is crucial for private equity firms investing in real estate, which have struggled to dispose of assets and return capital to investors [1].

The recovery in real estate sales is uneven, with demand focused on sectors like data centers, rental housing, and logistics properties where there are shortages of supply and robust demand. Traditional mainstays of commercial real estate portfolios like office buildings face a more uncertain landscape, with demand concentrated on the limited amount of high-quality new supply while vacancy rates remain elevated for older space [1].

Brookfield is doubling down on select opportunities, particularly in high-end urban markets. The company has agreed to several sales this year, including an Australian retirement housing business, a Spanish student dorm owner, and most recently Phoenix, Arizona-based Fundamental Income Properties, which is being acquired by Starwood Property Trust for $2.2 billion [1].

The slow feed-through of distress has compounded the lack of transactional activity, extending the longest period of dislocation in real estate markets since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. However, for managers that have been able to raise capital, this extension has also created opportunity [1].

Brookfield made a series of contrarian bets in the aftermath of the pandemic, acquiring a trio of European office landlords. This strategy contrasts with rival real estate giant Blackstone Inc., which has talked up its minimal exposure to office properties in recent years [1].

The recovery remains uneven, with demand focused on sectors like data centers, rental housing, and some logistics properties where there are shortages of supply and robust demand. However, traditional mainstays of commercial real estate portfolios like office buildings face a more uncertain landscape, with demand concentrated on the limited amount of high-quality new supply while vacancy rates remain elevated for older space [1].

References:
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-25/brookfield-s-new-real-estate-head-sees-return-of-mega-deals
[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/eeft-vs-bam-stock-value-154002107.html
[3] https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/crusoe-plans-18gw-data-center-campus-in-wyoming/