Fetering trade wars, frenzied populism, faltering US stocks, China’s bureaucratic fiddling, plummeting emerging-market currencies, geopolitical tensions — the list of hindrances to real estate performance in 2019 is long.

“2019 offers not just one wild card but a full deck,” says Chris Macke, the managing director for research and strategy at American Realty Advisors.

This is a trying time for anyone in search of capital gains. Growth in values has slowed significantly, says Scott Crowe, chief investment strategist at CenterSquare Investment Management. “We expect growth to be near zero in 2019.”

Investors who cherry-picked prize assets in the wake of the global financial crisis have seen those opportunities vanish. Investors say the low yield on blue-chip property makes core purchases hard to justify, while the risk from buying at the peak is high.

“Goldilocks” is still at home for the global economy, according to Dr Jacques Gordon, globa