Real estate star Ryan Serhant warns housing market is ‘rigged’ as rates

American homebuyers battling elevated interest rates and high listing prices are confronting a far broader financial hurdle: a hidden “obstacle course” of property taxes, rising insurance premiums and local regulatory friction.

Beyond headline mortgage rates, rising monthly carrying costs in high-growth states are increasingly influencing where families can afford to settle, according to SERHANT. founder and real estate star Ryan Serhant.

“New York taught me that real estate is a function of price and rates. It is supply, and it is demand,” Serhant told Fox News Digital at his SoHo headquarters. “As we started expanding the company across the country in 2023, what we learned very, very quickly is that price and rates are only a small piece of what I would call, not even a housing market, but a housing obstacle course.”

“You realize that the game has somewhat been rigged by those who created the obstacle course in the first place, and punishes mobility in favor [of] stability.”

HOME SELLERS MAY HAVE TO ‘TAKE A HIT’ AS RATES RISE, REAL ESTATE EXPERTS SAY

As of Thursday, the average rate on a 30-year fixed refinance was 7.11%, up from 7.07% a week earlier, while the average 15-year fixed refinance rate was 6.34%, according to the Mortgage Research Center. The increase comes after the Federal Reserve last week raised the target range for the federal funds rate from 3.5%-3.75% to 3.75%-4%. The 25-basis-point increase marked the first interest rate hike since July 2023 and came after the Fed left rates unchanged at its first five meetings this year.

Ryan Serhant breaks down the U.S. housing “obstacle course” that’s become “rigged” by those who created it. (Getty Images)

Additionally, a new report from Redfin shows that U.S. home prices rose 3.7% year over year in August, representing the fastest annual growth rate in a year.

While cost pressures may entice some homeowners to move to states without individual income taxes, such as Florida and Texas, Serhant warned that unexpected carrying costs can offset initial tax savings.

“People move with two things, and it’s not just their two legs, which politicians like to say, ‘People vote with their feet.’ They move with their wallet, and they move with heart,” he said.

“If you think about a state like Florida, for example… And if you think about Texas, people think about no state income tax, but then they start to realize, ‘Oh, how are real estate property taxes determined?’ In Florida, it’s almost 2% of what you pay. That’s a lot. And then you start thinking about sales taxes, what insurance costs — what is it like to get homeowners insurance in a coastal city these days? What does it actually cost you per month if you have to get private homeowners insurance?”…