My father started building homes nearly 40 years ago, and I’ve spent my life watching families achieve the American dream through homeownership. As a 36-year-old, I belong to the generation less likely to buy a home than our parents were at the same age. For the security of America’s future, that must change.
The National Association of Realtors’ 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reports that the median age of first-time homebuyers has reached a historic high of 40 years old, up significantly from around 30 in earlier decades (and as low as 28 in 1992 in some historical comparisons). This delay isn’t just an interesting statistic. It’s a devastating barrier to wealth-building. It is a financial long-term blow to the American economy.
Homeownership has long been the primary way Americans accumulate equity and financial security. When families wait an extra decade to buy, they miss out on substantial gains.
Consider the lost equity from delaying purchase by 10 years. Historical home price appreciation averages about 3%-5% annually nationwide. For a typical starter home purchased at $250,000 (a rough benchmark for past decades), 10 years of 4% average appreciation could increase its value to around $370,000 or more. That means roughly $120,000 to $150,000 in potential equity growth vanishes for those locked out of the market longer. Older homeowners build wealth while younger families rent indefinitely, often paying more without ownership benefits.
I don’t have enough fingers to count the friends who assumed they’d be homeowners by now. Anecdotal as it may seem, the data backs it up—85% of Americans believe it’s harder for young people to buy homes today than for previous generations.
As the nation debates housing affordability and scarcity, it is clear that scarcity didn’t happen by accident. It stems from bad policy, and it can be fixed with better policy.
Commonsense reforms must be rewarded. And obvious failures must be called out. Overregulation is an obvious failure. Nearly a quarter of a new home’s cost comes from government fees, regulations, and mandates, not superior materials or craftsmanship. On average, that is around $94,000.
This figure is unacceptable. We should all be outraged that bureaucratic hurdles inflate prices, pricing out young families. Nearly $100,000 is budget dust to a keyboard-wielding bureaucrat, but it is a legacy of financial security for most American families.
President Donald Trump, a builder himself, intuitively grasps this. Increasing housing stock is essential without eroding value for current homeowners who’ve invested years in their properties. It must be a win-win for everyone. Older owners must be able to sell and downsize fairly, while making starter homes accessible again.
I’m proud to partner with the America First Policy Institute’s Dr. Ben Carson and influencer Benny Johnson on these issues. We firmly believe the government should make it easier for families to build wealth, start households, and have babies—not more difficult through overregulation and scarcity.
The American dream isn’t dead, but it’s delayed for too many. By cutting red tape, incentivizing construction, and prioritizing affordability, we can restore homeownership as a realistic milestone for the next generation. It’s time to make housing great again, and we do that through deregulation and policies that make it more affordable.
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