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Fundamentals for the REIT industry look reasonably strong heading into 2019, as the economy moves to a more sustainable pace this year, panelists on a Bloomberg Intelligence webinar said Jan. 17.

The webinar, The Issues That Will Move the REIT Market in 2019, featured Nareit Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Analysis Calvin Schnure, Steven Brown, senior portfolio manager at American Century Investment Management, and Cedrik Lachance, director of REIT research at Green Street Advisors.

After a volatile 2018, REITs are prepared to meet the challenges of 2019, including a number of macroeconomic factors like global trade, which has become more visible and volatile over the past year. But with strong performance anticipated in sectors including retail, data centers, and apartments, analysts say investors should still expect REIT stocks to perform well this year.

REIT magazine recently interviewed four analysts to find out how market volatility, M&A, and changes in retail will likely impact the real estate investment landscape in 2019.

The total returns of the FTSE Nareit All REITs Index fell 7.7 percent in December, while the S&P 500 lost 9.0 percent. The total returns of the FTSE Nareit Mortgage REIT Index fell 5.7 percent, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note lost 0.3 percent.

For 2018, the FTSE Nareit All REITs Index fell 4.1 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 4.4 percent.