Ryan Serhant, founder and CEO of Serhant, said Monday that the U.S. housing market has fractured into "four Americas."

This division suggests a fundamental break in how citizens access and afford homeownership. The disparity in financing options may create long-term economic stagnation as homeowners refuse to sell properties to avoid higher interest rates.

Serhant said "there is no longer a housing market in the United States," according to a report by Yahoo Finance [1]. He said that the national market has split based on varying financing options and economic conditions.

One specific group highlighted by Serhant includes homeowners who secured mortgage rates of three percent [1]. He said these individuals are now "imprisoned in their own homes" [1]. This phrasing describes a scenario where the cost of upgrading or relocating becomes prohibitively expensive because a new loan would carry a significantly higher interest rate than the existing one.

This phenomenon creates a locked-in effect that reduces the volume of available inventory. When homeowners are unable or unwilling to move, the supply of existing homes drops, which can drive up prices for first-time buyers who do not have the benefit of low-interest legacy loans.

Serhant said the resulting landscape is not a single cohesive market but rather a series of divided economic realities. The gap between those with historic low-rate financing and those facing current market rates defines the current struggle of the American real estate sector [1].

“"there is no longer a housing market in the United States,"”

The 'lock-in effect' described by Serhant illustrates a systemic freeze in residential mobility. When a significant portion of the population holds mortgages at rates far below current market offers, they face a financial penalty for moving. This reduces the turnover of existing homes, which limits supply and maintains high price floors, further distancing the dream of homeownership from younger generations who cannot compete with the equity and low costs of legacy owners.