Sometimes the answer to that either/or is simply: yes.
Did you know that for those with long time horizons, the best time to invest in the stock market or buy a house has typically been "now" regardless of what is happening in the news or in those markets?
The Compound has a nice chart showing how since the 1950s, housing returns have been positive after 15 years 100% of the time.
Stocks have taken just a bit longer to reach 100%: 20 years.
But the point is this: most investors are happy they invested when looking back a few decades later.
Too many people try to play the game of awaiting interest rates to go down or awaiting a stock market decline to invest in either.
Waiting can be prudent.
Waiting can also end up being longer than you think and the failure to act can be irresponsible.
Again, every situation is different, but for the past seven decades or so—roughly a lifetime—the answer has been in favor of investing in a house and the stock market.
One might say, “But haven’t you heard what This-Or-That-Person predicted about what the stock market and interest rates will do this year?”
Do not let whatever they may have said with their highfalutin reasons about what may happen flummox you into a perpetual state of uncertainty and inaction.
Take a look at how often stock market forecasters are wrong1:
And though it is not a perfect correlation to housing interest rates, look at how often bond market forecasting on rates is wrong2:
Investment decisions should not be made in haste, nor should they be made too slowly.
While I don’t give investment advice to the public and non-clients, I will educate you with data.
And while there are other factors beyond time in one’s decision and key differences between the two kinds of investments, the above data establishes—though does not promise—the following proverb for investing in stocks and housing:
Time-in > Timing.
The longer you put off investing in either, the less time you have to reap results.
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Sources:
1. Chart taken from Bob Seawright’s “Forecasting Follies 2025”, January 12, 2026. Accessed online: https://betterletter.substack.com/p/forecasting-follies-2025
2. Ibid.