It was encouraging to see lawmakers make good on their promise to prioritize homeownership earlier this year with the bipartisan passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. But more than two months later, it has become clear that the current home affordability crisis goes beyond building more units, and the initial adjustments to macroeconomic levers will not be enough to avoid a fundamental crisis of opportunity in the housing market.
In the last few months, traditional housing inventory has increased yet, the median existing-home price also increased for the 38th consecutive month on a year-over-year basis. Existing-home sales fell another 2% in August to an annualized rate of 3.98 million, while pending sales remained 4.7% below last year’s level.
The new law was a starting point, not the solution. Americans are still confronting a housing market characterized by historically depressed sales activity, elevated borrowing costs and persistently high home prices. Addressing those challenges requires looking beyond simply building more homes and adjusting macroeconomic levers to the structural factors that determine whether consumers can actually access the housing opportunities that exist.
For millions of Americans, homeownership no longer feels like a realistic milestone, with the median age of first-time U.S. homebuyers reaching an all-time high of 40. Elevated mortgage rates, rising construction costs, persistent inflation and economic uncertainty have combined to create one of the most hostile housing environments in modern memory. These conditions are daunting, but they also present a profound opportunity. This moment demands structural intervention to restore the basic accessibility that American families deserve.
Lawmakers should be applauded for coming together to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, but their work is far from done in order to restore affordability in the housing market. While economists watch interest rates and advocacy groups push for local zoning reforms, a critical structural shift is happening right before our eyes. It has been completely overlooked by policymakers and remains under the radar of most consumers. It is a quiet war over data, transparency, and market access.
The rise of closed ecosystems
For years, policymakers have scrutinized transparency and competition in financial markets, social media platforms, and the healthcare industry. Yet there has been very little attention paid to transparency in the housing market, even though homeownership remains the primary source of wealth creation for most American families.
Right now, the residential real estate market is experiencing a dangerous shift toward fragmentation, reduced visibility, and closed listing ecosystems. What was once a transparent marketplace is splintering into private networks. We have recently experienced the temporary disappearance of thousands of Chicago-area listings from public platforms, with the threat of more to follow; a controversy surrounding the largest real estate company’s private-listing strategy; and regulatory scrutiny that has raised broader questions about transparency and competition. This has led multiple states to introduce legislation that regulates private listings.
At the same time, a Consumer Policy Center report found elevated levels of double-ended transactions among certain brokerage models, renewing concerns that reduced competition and self-serving business practices are preventing consumers from benefiting from the openness and competition that healthy housing markets require.
This structural shift limits the consumer’s ability to see all the available homes on the market. As a result, this creates an illusion of limited supply, making it more difficult for consumers to identify newly available homes and limiting access to those properties to a smaller group of people. This will inevitably lead to increased home prices.
This is all happening at the precise moment that Americans need a more transparent, competitive, and consumer-friendly housing market. It is imperative that the administration prioritize all Americans by ensuring open-market principles in the housing market.
The unintended consequences of propTtch
New data and platforms have improved many aspects of the homebuying experience. But new technology can have significant unintended consequences that negatively impact the consumer. Safeguards must be put in place to protect Americans from being forced into limited access to housing opportunities.
While the government shouldn’t be responsible for regulating every industry, we must recognize the greater implications for the entire economy if housing becomes more restricted for Americans and unaffordability gets worse. Homeownership has always been a core benchmark of the American dream and remains one of the most powerful tools for building generational wealth and long-term financial stability in America.
As policymakers debate the future of digital marketplaces and competition across industries, housing transparency deserves similar attention because homeownership remains one of the most important drivers of middle-class wealth creation in America.
Protecting the marketplace
We cannot afford to wait years for regulators to sort out these structural issues. Lawmakers must address this push to limit transparency and access. Historically, it has always been the baseline responsibility of the U.S. government to ensure that the economic ladder remains clear and accessible to everyone.
To prevent the current housing slump from becoming a permanent economic barrier, our leaders must protect the structural integrity of the market itself. A healthy real estate market depends entirely on buyers and sellers participating in a fully transparent marketplace where information is a public utility, not hidden behind corporate gatekeepers or fragmented digital firewalls.
If our leaders want to restore faith in the American dream of homeownership, policies that support openness, transparency, and consumer access must be a priority. This is not just good housing policy. It is the only way to ensure that a temporary housing crisis does not evolve into a permanent crisis of the American spirit.
Stuart Siegel is President and CEO of Engel & Völkers Americas.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.
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