Is an MBA a necessity to move up in PERE/REPE?

So one of the aspects which initially attracted me to real estate was the fact that prestige isn't necessarily as big of a factor when compared to IB/other finance roles. However, at the REPE I just started at it seems like everyone above the analyst level has gotten their mba, and it is ivy league level mba's across the top execs.

Do firms that deal more with institutional capital require more prestige/mba's? Is it specific to most REPEs or does it just vary firm by firm?