Buying & Selling Real Estate
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies

Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal


Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback
Updated over 8 years ago on .

How do interest rates affect property values?
There's a great article on Investopedia that explains how interest rates affect property value which I've found to be generally helpful. I'm curious to hear about seasoned investors' experiences. I know lately, interest rates have generally been going down.
For example, are FHA loan borrowers probably going to be "underwater?" Case in point this scenario:
John buys a duplex using an FHA loan at 3.5% at 3.5% interest down for $100,000 in November 2016. In December, the feds raise the rates to 4.5%. In one year, John had been planning to refinance out of the FHA into a conventional loan in order to get out of PMI. It seems; however, if rates go up, and home values generally go down, a refinance can potentially not happen for quite some time. Am I correct in my understanding of this situation?
Any experiences or shares would be very helpful in our continuous planning to correctly buy.