Those now-enviable 3% rates on 30-year mortgages “are a thing of the past for quite some time,” but that doesn’t mean it’s best to sit on the sidelines of the real estate market, says Nicole Webb, senior vice president and financial planner at Wealth Enhancement Group, a wealth management firm with $62 billion in assets and 90 offices across the U.S.
Inflation, at least from the viewpoint of the Federal Reserve, “will likely remain pretty sticky and elevated for some time, which will drive policy to keep interest rates higher for longer,” Webb says. The labor market is strong and that means consumption will remain resilient. “The consumer will tend to continue to behave as expected as long as they’re not living in fear of losing their job,” she says.
