LONDON -- Assets under management of closed-end private real estate funds hit a record $742 billion as of June 2014, data released by industry tracker Preqin showed on Thursday.

These funds added $50 billion in the first half of the year, the data showed, as the value of real estate assets held by the funds rose.

"The improvement in fundraising in recent quarters also means that fund managers now have large amounts of dry powder available to make new investments," Andrew Moylan, head of real assets products at Preqin, said in a statement.

Real estate funds held $175 billion in dry powder - or the amount of uncalled capital available for investments.

Preqin added that funds in the year to date raised $77 billion, slightly less than the $80 billion raised during the same period last year.