Ryan Serhant says lower mortgage rates could mean fewer homes for sale
The 'Owning Manhattan' star says buyers can use current rate pressure to negotiate prices, closing costs and rate buy-downs.
Ryan Serhant, the real-estate broker and star of Netflix’s "Owning Manhattan," told Realtor.com that buyers should not assume falling mortgage rates will make home purchases easier in 2027.
Cheaper loans alone cannot resolve the market’s problems, Serhant said. In the interview, described by Realtor.com as exclusive and published by MarketWatch, he offered his outlook for the coming year, identified markets that could surprise buyers and addressed the debate over private listings.
In longer interview excerpts published by real estate website buildlikenew.com, Serhant argued that lower rates would leave buyers with even fewer homes to choose from. The website identifies him as the founder of brokerage SERHANT..
If rates fall, "there will be no houses for sale," Serhant said.
Buyers "won't even have the opportunity to complain about a high monthly payment," he said, "because there will be nothing for sale, because the demand is so great."
"Lower mortgage rates will help, but rates alone are not going to fix the cost of housing or the cost of moving," Serhant said. He said more homes and fewer obstacles are needed.
"We have entered an environment where people can't afford to buy their first home, and their parents can't afford to leave their last one, and it's a problem we need to solve," he said.
For buyers ready to make a purchase, Serhant said current rates provide leverage. They have "a great opportunity to use the rate pressure to negotiate closing costs, rate buy-downs, lower purchase prices," he said.
He pointed to Chicago, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and Alabama as places where employment growth is bringing people back to cities many left in recent years. It was not clear which specific cities in those states he had in mind.
Serhant said buyers cannot change a home’s location.
Borrowing costs face an elevated outlook, according to rate figures and forecasts cited by Douglas Adams Real Estate, a New Orleans brokerage. Freddie Mac’s weekly survey found that the 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 7.18% in the week of Nov. 5, falling for a third consecutive week. The survey put the rate at 6.22% a year before.
Fannie Mae projected in its October outlook that 30-year rates would average 7.5% in each quarter of 2027, the brokerage said. The Mortgage Bankers Association expects rates to remain above 7% throughout 2027 in its baseline forecast.
