Compass International Holdings Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin discusses the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hitting a 19-month high on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
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What Robert Reffkin said
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Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass, discussed the housing market's affordability shock following a rise in 30-year fixed mortgage rates to 7.08 percent. He described a 'must-move market' with stable demand despite rate increases, arguing rates alone shouldn't drive buying decisions. He noted lower-end homes ($100k-$500k) are down 10 percent year-over-year, while luxury markets remain strong due to stock market gains. Reffkin disputed an impending market freeze, citing income growth of 3-4 percent and contrasting home prices per square foot across cities like Charlotte, Philadelphia, and New York. He highlighted that 42 percent of homes on the market have price reductions, the most for any September in a decade. He advocated for portable mortgages, more builders, and reduced listing risks to increase supply.
Key takeaways
42 percent of homes on the market have had a price reduction, the most for any September in the last ten years.
Lower-end homes priced between $100,000 and $500,000 are down 10 percent year-over-year in transactions.
Mortgage rates could potentially rise further, so current buyers might consider buying now or using an ARM.
Existing homeowners with mortgages below 4 percent view them as financial assets, reducing inventory.
Fox Business Alert: The housing market is facing a fresh affordability shock. Bankrate is now saying the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has jumped up to 7.08 percent, and 19 McKay and crossing the 7 percent threshold, coming to push even more buyers to the sidelines. And for the sellers, either cover prices further or to stay put, into your hands off of market. The move comes about percent, comes 48 hours after that raised interest rates for the first time in three years, with Charing Cross coming unexciting, still down from a year ago. The end of the summer, the start of the deep housing market winter. 20 McKay and Fox Business exclusive is Compass International Holdings, the largest real estate brokerage network in the world. Your reaction to this, Robert Reffkin?
In the mortgage rates are to 19 McKay, so nearly two years, but over two ago is a percent. And so, I feel like we're in a must-move market. 4 million homes sold from last year and the year before, and we're entrapped for 4 million to getting consumers more to the change in market-rate actual rages over to see the mortgage rates ever recorded this year move up and up, from 5.8 percent down to 7.08 percent, and the demand has stayed relatively constant. I think it's a good thing.
Okay, come up. Well, I totally see what you say. You have to put things into context. In two years ago, the mortgage rates were well at a percent. Fine, they have been coming down. They were in the sixes just a few weeks ago. And now there were, we are now at 7 percent. And my question to you is, if two years ago we were at a percent, coming is up, we are heading.
I think that you should prepare that it could get up to a percent. So if you are a buyer, for the means now could be a good time to buy, before potentially could get up to a percent. And also you get an ARM to protect yourself. But I believe that if you're going to make a move, it should not be solely based off of the mortgage rate. Also many different markets. Now we have a low-end, where you have homes between 100 to $500,000, down 10 percent year-over-year, and really dark possoms are actually up percent in terms of transactions. It's on the lower end which is not mortgage rate sensitivity of the Hyatt, which is more what affects incident in stock market, still all-time highs because is getting behind moving.
I will point and forget the Hyatt cover most of in the high luxury. And but at what point does a 7 percent rate, fire mortgage rate, move from an affordability issue to an outright freeze of the market?
So for the affordability, is one aspect and the other is how our income spring relative to the price of homes over the last three years, test and relatively flat and comes about three to 4 percent. So that is me don't actually portable. Even with mortgage rates increasing. Looking at the prices of homes, if you look at an average home, we're talking say 700,000 or so. So sad that is average because a lot of people cannot afford that. Read as you look at what you get in one market versus another, and we can put that up here. And Charlotte, North Carolina, you can see would you here, and Philly, 70725 in Philly, and 7,120,000. But you're getting whole different type of house for that. And if you look at New York at 34th Street in Manhattan, 7,120,000, and 1000 per square foot in Philly, hit is three bedroom three bath, townhouse, 250 per square foot in Charlotte, six bedrooms four bouts 3500 square feet and $198 per square foot. You will see a huge migration if you already.
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Reffkin, R. (2026, September 18). Homebuyers hit with 19-month mortgage HIGH [Interview transcript]. Fox Business Clips. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2019701/
MLA
Robert Reffkin. "Homebuyers hit with 19-month mortgage HIGH." Fox Business Clips, 18 Sep. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2019701/.
BibTeX
@misc{reffkin2026_2019701,
author = {Robert Reffkin},
title = {Homebuyers hit with 19-month mortgage HIGH},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Fox Business Clips. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {sep},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2019701/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
