
Rising Phoenix or Worm Food? The Future of Real Estate in a High Interest Rate Environment
While it is true that REITs are under scrutiny during this unique economic environment, I do not think it makes sense to count them out just yet. In a recent webinar, Summer Money Vibes, one of our clients asked a good question. He wanted to know if the high interest rate environment meant that real estate was a bad investment. As always, let’s look at rates in context rather than just this moment in time. The below graph shows average mortgage rates from 1971 through August of 2023 – about a 50 year period. You can see from the graph that the rates we enjoyed from 2001-2020 are the lowest in the fifty-year period presented. The historic low occurred around December of 2020/January of 2021. Over the course of the past 2 ½ years, the purchase of a home with a 30-year mortgage increased to a hefty rate of about 7%. While that number is painful for those of us who have only been buying homes over the past 20 years, you can see that is in line or below the median rate of 7.41%.