This is a quick article – very quick but maybe useful nonetheless….
 
And to be super clear at the outset, I am NOT trying to predict interest rates, which I believe is a fool’s errand.
 
Here is my thinking:

The ten-year treasury is at 4.416% as of today when I wrote this.

I think it is fair to say that the real estate industry – and the stock market players – think interest rates are ‘high’ and are expecting them to be lower at some point and hopefully soon.  

Yet I asked two different wealth managers what the average – and the mean – interest rate on the ten-year treasury over its 54 years of existence was, and they both said approximately 6%; actually a bit below 6%.

I admit this puzzlement is growing on me.  I don’t get it.  Why are rates that are – a lot – lower than average or mean interest rates – thought to be ‘high’ with an expectation that they will come down and should come down?  

As I already noted, I am not trying to predict interest rates here since there are too many variables for any prediction to be meaningful.

My point here is that if you are taking investment actions impliedly based on a prediction that interest rates will fall, you do have 54 years of history that is not consistent with that prediction.

By the way, almost three years ago, on April 21, 2021, to be exact, I wrote about this in my article, What if Inflation Goes Crazy?  I noted at that time that even though inflation looked quite tame, that could change and ideally one would make preparations for such an event.  I take no credit for the fact that inflation did indeed rear its head after my article since I was careful to not be predicting that outcome.  My only point then -- as now -- is that since you cannot predict outcomes you need to prepare for all eventualities. 
 
Someone suggested I add some suggestions on what to actually do vis-à-vis the foregoing non-prediction, but I think I have done that before; namely, diversify as much as possible (by asset class, structure and geography), don’t take on too much leverage, have the leverage be as long-term as possible, and make sure that even if things go terribly wrong you won’t lose everything so you can always recoup and stay in the game.

Bruce Stachenfeld aka The Real Estate Philosopher®