Real estate market cycles have multiple causes and diverse outcomes. But a stubborn postscript to most downturns is retrospective claims by analysts to have accurately predicted them.

The shift to ecommerce has meant changing fortunes for industrial and retail real estate. As more shopping has moved online, warehouse and logistics properties have been the beneficiaries, and demand from ecommerce tenants remains high.

Setting up defensive strategies and identifying robust megatrends are essential action points in uncertain times, writes Timothy Bellman, head of global research at Invesco Real Estate.