America’s dream of owning a home is being squeezed out of reach for a generation that used to expect homeownership in their early 30s. The median age of a first-time buyer has climbed to about 40 years old as of 2025, a remarkable jump from the early-30s average recorded five years earlier.
The price tag that used to feel attainable has exploded: the median sale price for existing homes was roughly $315,500 back in November 2020, and by mid-2025 the national median had surged into the mid-$400,000 range, with June 2025 hitting record territory above $435,000. Hardworking families didn’t get lazy — the market was reshaped by policy choices, interest-rate shocks, and a chronic shortage of starter homes.
Voices from the center-right and reform groups rightly point to supply as a big part of the problem; Young Voices’ Sofia Hamilton and others note that there simply aren’t enough homes being built to meet demand, which sends prices skyward and locks out young couples trying to build a life. That diagnosis should focus our attention where it belongs: on loosening needless regulations and unleashing the private sector to actually build the housing Americans need.
When President Trump’s team floated the idea of 50-year mortgages, it grabbed headlines as a potential quick fix, but policy theater won’t solve a supply problem. Administration officials and housing experts publicly debated the idea, with some inside the White House urging more detailed plans while others warned it was an undercooked talking point that could do more harm than good.
The facts on longer-term loans are blunt: stretching a mortgage to 50 years lowers monthly payments today while dramatically increasing interest payments over the life of the loan and delaying equity-building for buyers. Lending longer-term debt to younger Americans simply trades monthly relief for decades of higher costs, and it risks encouraging price inflation by adding buyers without fixing the supply shortage.
If we truly want to rescue the American dream, conservatives should lead with supply-side solutions that honor property rights and free enterprise — cut the red tape strangling homebuilders, reform exclusionary zoning, speed up permitting, and incentivize the construction of starter homes and duplexes. Don’t fall for schemes that saddle families with longer debt; instead, restore common-sense reforms so hard-working Americans can buy, build equity, and raise their families without being chained to interest payments for half a century.
