Top Broker Ryan Serhant Says Homeowners With 3% Mortgages Are 'Imprisoned in Their Own Homes' as Housing Splits Into 'Four Americas'

Tanya Rawat

Wed, July 29, 2026 at 10:30 PM GMT+3 6 min read

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Ryan Serhant, founder and CEO of Serhant, said Monday, "there is no longer a housing market in the United States," arguing the market has fractured into "four Americas" where cash buyers, financed buyers, homeowners locked into low-rate mortgages and builders are all navigating vastly different conditions as elevated borrowing costs reshape real estate.

Speaking on CNBC's "Fast Money," Serhant said the divide didn't exist when he entered the real estate business because cash and financed buyers once competed on relatively equal footing. Today, he said, buyers relying on mortgages are paying around 6.5% interest rates with 20% down payments, while homeowners sitting on 3% mortgages are effectively "imprisoned in their own homes" because selling would mean giving up historically low borrowing costs.

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Market Divide

"There are cash buyers," Serhant said. "There's buyers who need financing. There's owners who are locked into 3% rates who are imprisoned in their own homes. And there's builders."

He said each group now operates in a completely different market, marking a sharp departure from previous housing cycles when financing conditions affected buyers more uniformly.

Serhant's comments come as the U.S. housing market continues to rebalance after years of seller dominance. CNBC's second-quarter Housing Market Survey found that 44% of real estate agents now view the market as balanced between buyers and sellers, up from 30% in the third quarter of 2025. Even so, affordability remains the biggest hurdle, with mortgage rates and home prices continuing to rank as buyers' biggest concerns.

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That broader shift helps explain Serhant's "four Americas" thesis. While buyers are gradually regaining negotiating power in parts of the market, those relying on financing continue to face elevated borrowing costs, homeowners with historically low mortgage rates remain reluctant to sell and builders are competing aggressively to attract demand.

The affordability challenge has also intensified in recent weeks. Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.58%, its highest level in nearly 11 months, while Redfin data cited by The Kobeissi Letter showed the median U.S. existing-home sale price reached a record $408,776 in June. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said buyers who shop around for mortgage rates could save thousands of dollars annually, even as housing affordability continues to deteriorate.

Builders' Edge

Serhant said builders have emerged as a separate class of market participants because they must continue selling homes regardless of market conditions.

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Pointing to North Dallas, he said one neighbourhood has gone from roughly 10 buyers competing for every home two years ago to around 10 homes available for every buyer today. Builders, he said, are responding by offering incentives ranging from property tax payments to other concessions as they work to reduce inventory, leaving existing homeowners struggling to compete.

"The tougher market right now is that middle-class market who bought a couple years ago, who is now competing against the incentives that builders can give out in new construction," Serhant said.

Beyond Texas, Serhant said buyers are becoming increasingly "location agnostic," expanding searches beyond traditional luxury destinations. He said his firm is seeing growing demand in Long Island's North Fork, the Carolinas and overseas markets including Portugal and Spain as buyers seek better value and greater purchasing power.

Image via Shutterstock

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