Sales of nontraded real estate investment trusts totaled $5.65 billion in the first quarter of 2020, a level not seen since 2013, as private equity giant The Blackstone Group Inc. continued to dominate the fundraising scene.

Nontraded REIT sponsors' first-quarter sales total represented a 35% increase quarter over quarter and a 212% gain year over year. It was the second-highest quarter sales-wise after the 2013 third-quarter peak, when the figure hit $6.47 billion, according to investment banking firm Robert A. Stanger & Co. Inc.

Sponsors achieved the high quarterly sales despite a relatively slow March, when the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S. During the month, sales totaled just $781 million, less than a third of the January and February totals. The nontraded REIT market acted "intelligently" by slowing the pace of fundraising until clarity emerges on the impact on real estate operations, Kevin Gannon, the firm's chairman and CEO, said in a release.

"We expect to see a strong increase in fundraising in the coming quarters following the resolution of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

Blackstone's sales, via its daily net asset value REIT, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc., totaled $4.13 billion, representing a 73.1% market share. The firm had a 72.9% share of the 2019 sales total.

The second- and third-highest-selling nontraded REIT sponsors in the first quarter were Black Creek Group LLC and Starwood Capital Group Holdings LP, with $658.5 million and $347.8 million in sales, respectively.

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