The current push to realign the global trade landscape is sitting on top of longer-term trends of how we invest in real estate — and, fundamentally, what real estate is. And let’s not forget the effects of data science and artificial intelligence on the way we work and make decisions.

When geopolitics supersede fundamentals, cross-border investors often default to caution. For much of the first half of 2025, many who expected to be active found themselves on the sidelines — not due to deteriorating fundamentals, but because of escalating and unquantifiable geopolitical and policy risks. US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime, introduced earlier and more aggressively than anticipated, delivered a macro-political shock that halted transactions, disrupted capital flows and reignited doubts over trade alliances. It coincided with rising inflation, budget deficits and renewed geopolitical brinkmanship, all compounding investor anxiety. The decision to pause or delay was pragmatic: to hedge against deploying capital into policy uncertainty or selling into illiquidity.

We are likely at a historic moment when it comes to allocations to alternative property sectors. Interest runs high, there’s a sudden influx of investment from open-end funds with deep wells of capital, and index providers are expanding their definitions in a way that allows greater flexibility to add alternative exposure.