Why the American Dream is Getting Priced Out — and What Might Actually Fix It
If you’re a homeowner, or hope to be one, you’re likely feeling the pinch of rising home prices and shrinking inventory. But according to Colin Allen, Executive Director of the American Property Owners Alliance, there’s a very clear reason behind this mess: supply.
In a recent broadcast titled “The Supply Side Solution,” Allen doesn’t sugarcoat it. “There is no affordability crisis without a supply crisis,” he says, laying the blame squarely on decades of policy decisions that have restricted homebuilding across the country.
Allen points out that between regulatory barriers, zoning restrictions, and local opposition to new development, the U.S. simply isn’t building enough homes, especially starter homes. And that’s a direct threat to the American Dream.
“We used to treat homeownership as something that was for everybody,” Allen says. “And what’s shifted over the past several decades is we’ve started to treat it like it’s something you have to earn, like it’s a privilege, not a right.”
That cultural and policy shift, he argues, has led to massive underbuilding and a near-collapse in affordability for younger and middle-income buyers.
But here’s what makes Allen’s message stand out: he’s not calling for a national homebuilding program or new subsidies, he’s calling for homeowners themselves to step up and become a political force.
“There are 82 million homeowning families in America,” he notes. “If even a fraction of them spoke up about supply, zoning, permitting, and local obstructionism, we could change housing policy across the country.”
His organization, the American Property Owners Alliance (APOA), is working to organize those voices, not just for advocacy in Washington, but to push back against the kind of local “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) policies that are choking new housing from the ground up.
If you’re a homeowner frustrated by affordability, or an agent trying to help clients who feel priced out, Allen’s message is simple: this isn’t just an economic issue, it’s a political one. And it won’t change unless people who already own homesstart advocating for the right of others to do the same.
“The number one driver of affordability is housing supply,” Allen reminds us. “And the only way to fix it is to build more homes.”
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Watch the full video below: