The Fed's most recent interest rate decrease at the November meeting wasn't a surprise. Industry experts anticipated the additional nudge, but it has left investors questioning how many more interest rate decreases are to come. Patrick Ward of Metro Group Realty Finance expects rates to plateau.

"The recent interest rate cut was definitely expected. Many anticipated that the Fed would again lower interest rates at the November 6 meeting. This is largely due to the fact that the Fed has been supportive in assisting the prolonged expansion of the current market," Ward, president at Metro Group Finance, tells GlobeSt.com. "However, at the recent meeting, the Fed indicated that there would have to be significant evidence of a deteriorating economy to continue to lower rates. The current rate of 1.625% is the midpoint of the last three years with a low of .75% and a high of 2.50%."

The Fed has cut rates three times this year, returning them to record lows, and for that reason, Ward doesn't expect additional cuts this year. "We do not expect the Fed to continue to lower rates this year or the beginning of next year—it was the rate third cut this year and is considered a "midcycle adjustment" in a maturing economic expansion," he says. "At the recent November 6 announcement of the rate cut, the Fed implied it will be looking harder at the risk of inflation, job growth and wages."

However, the ten-year treasury is likely to shift before the end of the year. "We see the ten-year treasury moving in response to worldwide geopolitical events but staying in and averaging in the 2% range," says Ward. "This would continue to provide ample availability and cost of capital for real estate investors in the 4% range."

Over the next 12 months, Ward also doesn't expect to see much movement from the Fed regarding interest rates, and says that they have likely plateaued here. "At this point in the cycle, we see the continued movement and volatility of long-term rates but believe they should settle at their current level," he says. "In the last twelve months, we saw the ten-year treasury go from 3.20% in December of 2018 to 1.47% at the end of August 2019 and to its current level 1.92% as of November 6, 2019.

While we expect to see continued growth in the economy, we see alternative investments available. This should not drive down the ten-year treasury bill, which happened in August of this year."

Investors should pay light attention to interest rate fluctuations at this point. "This should not be a concern to real estate investors," says Ward. "The cost and availability of real estate capital is not dependent on future rate cuts. As mentioned above, capital for financing commercial real estate is not tied to short term rates. We believe the range of rates from 3.6% to 4.25% should remain available."