The real estate deal environment was in a frenzy until the the Blackstone Group's $39 billion buyout of Equity Office Properties, the largest buyout ever (for now anyway). Since then, the environment seems to have changed. Just over three months later, FTSE Nareit All-REIT Index has fallen 10.5 percent, while the S&P is up 6.5 percent. So is the boom now over? Don't count on it. A large number of deals are in the works and roughly 400 real estate funds are raising money. The list includes the Blackstone Group, which is about to close a $10 billion real estate buyout fund. It was originally slated to be a $6 billion fund. Two other giants, Shorenstein Properties and Beacon Capital are also wrapping up massive fund raising efforts.

For more:
- here's the Investment Dealers' Digest article (For FierceFinance readers)