'During the past year, mortgage rates almost tripled, and that creates problems for anyone who wants to finance the purchase of a home,' says Marci McGregor, senior investment strategist in the Chief Investment Office for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank. Yet McGregor notes that one of the Fed’s goals in raising interest rates is to cool off a hot housing market that has contributed to inflation. And if the central bank’s moves tip the nation into recession, as now seems likely, McGregor says, some of the recent rate hikes may be reversed and mortgage rates could start to come down again. In an economic downturn, home prices could also retreat from recent highs, although demand from house-hunting, older millennials may work against that downward pressure. 'I think of it as a tug of war,' says McGregor. 'But soon, if not right now, a combination of lower mortgage rates and more affordable prices could make it a great time to buy a house.'