For generations, homeownership has been the foundation of the American Dream. It is how families build wealth, stability, and both memories and a future for their children. It is how communities grow stronger and more secure.

Yet today, as housing grows more expensive and inventory more constrained, that dream feels increasingly out of reach.

There is broad agreement that America faces a housing affordability challenge, driven by years of underbuilding, restrictive zoning, and regulatory barriers that have impacted supply. Expanding supply and reducing unnecessary regulatory barriers must remain priorities. But as policymakers search for solutions, we must not overlook a core principle that underpins every healthy market: transparency.

During my time in the United States Senate representing Missouri, I met families from all parts of our state who worked hard, saved diligently, and still struggled to compete in a tight housing market. Many were trying to navigate a process that felt fragmented and confusing, unsure whether they were seeing every available home for sale or whether access to opportunity depended on who you knew.

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In real estate, as in every sector of our economy, opportunity should be visible and accessible to everyone willing to compete.

Over the past two decades, consumers have come to expect broad access to home listings. Buyers can search freely, compare options, and make informed decisions about one of the most important investments of their lives. That openness has strengthened competition and empowered families.

Restricting visibility in an already challenging housing market does not make homes more affordable. It makes the process less competitive and less fair.

For decades, the housing market has steadily moved toward greater visibility, giving buyers and sellers clearer access to information about what homes are available and what they are worth. But there is a growing practice among some players in the real estate industry to roll back that visibility by steering listings into private networks and making them visible only to select buyers. When listings are not broadly visible, buyers may not know whether they are seeing the full picture. Sellers may not reach the widest pool of potential purchasers. Over time, confidence in the fairness of the system begins to erode.

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This isn’t just a consumer issue; it’s a market issue. When access to information is limited, competition suffers. Markets function best when information flows freely. Transparency disciplines prices, encourages competition, and builds trust. Restricting visibility in an already challenging housing market does not make homes more affordable. It makes the process less competitive and less fair.

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Trump highlighted the story of a Houston mother who lost out on 20 homes to large investment firms paying cash and bypassing inspections—an experience that left her feeling that the American Dream had been pulled further from reach. Stories like hers are not isolated. Across the country, families worry that the system favors those with inside access, speed, or scale.

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Just as large investment firms are shutting American families out of the housing market, brokerage firms that hide listings from the open market are doing the same thing. If we believe in competitive markets, we must also believe in competitive access to information.

Brokerage firms steering listings into private networks are shutting out families just like large investment firms. (iStock)

The American Dream has never been about insider advantage. It has been about fair competition. It is about ensuring that success is determined by preparation, persistence, and hard work. Your ability to find a home should not depend on who you know or what agent or brokerage you choose to work with. It should depend on your readiness to compete in an open market.

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As the president and Congress continue debating housing affordability, we must defend the principles that make opportunity possible: transparency, fair competition, and equal access. In a housing market already strained by limited supply and rising prices, reducing visibility will not solve the problem. It will compound it. When opportunity is more visible, it becomes more attainable.

That is how we keep the American Dream within reach for millions of Americans. The path forward is clear: keep listings open, accessible, and visible to all. We must ensure that the housing market remains open, where access to listings is not restricted but shared broadly, so that every buyer has a fair chance to compete for their share of that dream.