NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Carlyle has raised $9

billion for its latest U.S. real estate fund, the investment

group told Reuters on Monday, giving it a record fundraising

haul to deploy into land and buildings amid tentative signs of

recovery in parts of the sector.

Many asset managers have struggled to coax their backers,

which include pension funds and other large financial

institutions, to put up cash for real estate investments in

recent years, as the market digested factors including slumping

demand for commercial real estate and offices in the wake of the

COVID pandemic.

The amount of private capital raised globally for real

estate investments sagged in 2024 to $131 billion, its lowest

since 2012, but has started to rebound this year, mainly driven

by a few very large fundraising rounds, according to data from

PEI Group.

Despite the backdrop, Carlyle's tenth fund of its kind

surpassed the $8 billion raised for its predecessor in 2021.

Carlyle's head of U.S. real estate, Rob Stuckey, said

investors committed money during "one of the most difficult

fundraising environments for real estate in recent memory."

Like the last two funds, this will have no exposure to

office, hotels or traditional retail. Stuckey said he aimed to

"avoid structurally challenged areas." Instead, Carlyle will put

the new funds into the residential, self-storage and industrial

sectors.

"This is a compelling moment to invest, as we see improving

fundamentals across our target sectors," he said, adding there

was less liquidity - meaning fewer buyers or sources of capital

for assets - in the market, which also presented an advantage.