By Cole Adams

Homeownership—once a hallmark of the American dream—has drifted further and further out of reach for the average American. More than half of US renters believe they’ll never own a home, and 80 percent of Americans say homeownership is slipping out of reach. Meanwhile, the average age of a first-time buyer has jumped from 33 to 40in just five years, and the average buyer overall has reached a record 59 years old. How did it get so bad, and why do homes feel so out of reach?

The answer to this question can be summarized by four simple but devastatingly sad points:

The supply of dollars and credit in the United States has expanded continuously through Federal Reserve policy and government-sponsored credit creation. Since official tracking began in 1959, the total money supply has grown from $286 billion to $21.5 trillion at the end of 2024—a 7,409 percent increase in the total supply, and 99 percent wealth devaluation for anyone holding dollars over that time.

As a result, more dollars now compete for a limited number of houses and prime real estate. Despite major productivity gains in construction materials and methods, the price of housing has risen dramatically over time. The chart below illustrates this relationship, with the median home price (in red) closely tracking the growth of the money supply (in blue). This increase in monetary supply has masked real productivity increases in the........

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