The pursuit of home: What we’re really celebrating this 4th of July

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It’s easy to say the American dream of homeownership is alive and well. It’s much harder to prove it when mortgage rates hover around 7 percent, the industry is being challenged in courtrooms, inventory is tight, and headlines keep seesawing from economic panic to political chaos. 

Despite all of it, however, people still want one thing: a place to call home.

Maybe a brief history lesson of the past five years is instructive here:

• 2020: COVID market standstill turns into the Wild West of high-demand relocation trends
• 2021: COVID still holding on, accompanied by record-low rates and ongoing high demand, resulting in …
• 2022: Record low inventory accompanied by the beginning of rising interest rates
• 2023: A second year of low inventory, high interest rates and a verdict in the Sitzer | Burnett commission lawsuit
• 2024: The National Association of Realtors reaches a settlement in the commission lawsuits as agents continue to struggle to find listings, and the lack of affordability has a chilling effect on buyers

This year feels different — because it is different

There’s more noise than ever. From interest rates and off-market inventory to global unrest, AI disruption, immigration and deportation policies, warfare, and yes, even Cybertrucks, the very idea of “stability” feels out of reach. Brokers sue each other, NAR and, now, the portals. 

And yet, buyers still show up. Sellers still hope. Families still dream.

If anything, the chaos of this year makes that dream — the one rooted in homeownership — even more meaningful.

“This part of my life … this little part … is called happiness.” — Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

That quote, delivered quietly by Will Smith’s character after securing a job that changes his family’s future, still stops me in my tracks. Not because of the paycheck, but because of what that financial lifeline represents: a future. Stability. Dignity. A home.

The Pursuit of Happyness may not be a movie about real estate, but it’s absolutely a story about home. Gardner isn’t chasing wealth. He’s chasing a life where his son can sleep safely in his own room, under his own roof. It’s what every parent — every person — truly wants.

That’s what makes our work as real estate professionals more important than ever in 2025. We’re not just selling homes. We’re guiding people through uncertainty. We’re standing in the gap between fear and freedom.

This year’s Fourth of July is about more than backyard BBQs and fireworks. It’s a moment to ask: What does freedom mean now?

• Maybe it’s the freedom to plant roots
• To build equity
• To host family dinners
• To wave to a neighbor from the porch
• To say, “This is mine. I built this”

Homeownership isn’t just a transaction — it’s a transformation.

And while the path to home might feel harder this year — for first-time buyers, for international buyers, for working families — that only makes the pursuit more sacred. Just like Chris Gardner’s journey, it’s in the struggle that the meaning is made.

So, as we reflect on the American dream this July Fourth, let’s remember:

• The dream isn’t dead. It’s evolving.
• The dream isn’t easy. It never was.
• The dream still matters. Maybe more than ever.

Because in a world filled with noise, uncertainty and disruption, a home still offers the one thing people crave most: A place to belong.

Do your part to keep the dream alive

I know it feels like we’re all helpless, but as real estate professionals, we’re uniquely positioned to make a difference in our communities and in the lives of the buyers and sellers we serve. The only antidote to despair is action, as Joan Baez memorably said.

Here’s how you can help right now:

1. Become hyper-focused on your clients and exceptionally informed about your community. Look at market and pricing trends, and identify up-and-coming neighborhoods where bargains are becoming available.
2. Create content that’s educational and informative so that buyers and sellers have the resources they need to make better decisions. Create blogs, videos and social media posts about affordability, financing, specific niches and value-added services that make a difference for clients.
3. Take back the search, and develop your own online ecosystem. That way, you can display your properties and share them from your own digital platform.
4. Get back to basics. Pick up the phone and have conversations. Meet for coffee. At the end of the day, this is a relationship-based business, and there are a lot of people who need to buy and sell. Be there for them.
5. Get involved in your community, whether it’s drumming up support for your local library or joining groups that are focused on affordable housing initiatives. 

In my case, sitting on the board of directors for Boys and Girls Clubs is my way of giving back and helping to build the future I want to see. Making sure that the youth and families we serve understand their legal rights and know that their kids have a safe place to grow helps spark joy and hope in an increasingly uncertain world.

Don’t agree with the direction we’re headed, either locally or nationally? Reach out to your legislative representatives and express your concerns. It’s time that we, as Americans, stop navel-gazing and start looking upward and outward. It’s not just about me and mine. It’s about we and ours. Let’s get started.