Flashpoint: Builders Can Lead The Way Out Of The Housing Crisis

In the two minutes it takes to read the next few paragraphs, between two and 25 homes that should have been built remain unbuilt.

That missing progress compounds minute by minute, day by day, year by year, leading us to the housing crisis we face today — a shortage of homes in the range of two million to seven million. At a time when two million new households form each year, the undersupply only deepens. If there's a definition and meaning to "generational challenge," this would be it.

The numbers — while striking — tell a story not just of houses, but of the people behind them: the families waiting for homes and the communities falling short of sheltering those who need it. The problem feels enormous because it is.

Hard things are hard because there are no easy answers or recipes. They are hard because your emotions are at odds with your logic. They are hard because you don’t know the answer and you cannot ask for help without showing weakness.” – Ben Horowitz, "The Hard Thing About Hard Things"

But here’s the other part of the story.

It’s not a story of defeat.

It’s one of character, grit, and a deeply ingrained culture within America’s homebuilding community, a community whose members take on the hardest challenges time and again. From economic recessions to regulatory battles, from labor shortages to supply chain disruptions, homebuilders have weathered storm after storm — and they’ve done so with remarkable resilience. This resilience is what gives us hope – and belief – for the future, even in the face of the current housing affordability crisis.

Homebuilders' secret power – the "thing they can and so often do control" – is this: Resilient high-performance team building.

Here is a call to action for U.S. homebuilding, residential development, and residential investment business leaders and their teams.

It’s a challenge to double- and triple-down. To recommit, reinvest, and persevere — not just as individual companies but as a collective force working toward a common goal. The housing crisis, though complex and daunting, is not insurmountable. To solve it – not ignoring the chronic and often self-canceling nature of housing's challenges – we must lean into three bedrock strengths that have defined our industry’s success:

Institutional Wisdom

There is no substitute for experience. Across the country, countless homebuilding professionals have lived through housing cycles. They’ve seen the peaks and valleys, the booms and busts, and they’ve learned invaluable lessons along the way.

There is an old joke whose details can be tailored to any kind of business, but the gist of it is a crucial machine breaks down. A specialist is called in, and he’s going to cost $500/hr to fix the problem with at least an hour as his minimum fee, but what can be done? Nothing else can happen until this machine is up and running again. Well, the specialist looks the whole thing over for a few minutes, goes into his tool bag, takes out a large hammer, reaches way into the machine, taps the hammer gently three times and then one hard smack, pulls out his arm, says, “Try it now?” and sure enough the machine roars to life, no problem.

“I can’t pay you $500 for that!” The man in charge of the machine splutters. “$500 for an hour’s work? You only looked at it for a minute or two and then hit it with a hammer a few times!”

“That’s right,” the specialist said. “If it helps, don’t think of it as paying me for the full hour. You’re paying me for the 20 years it took me to learn how to fix your problem in a couple of minutes.”

That specialist has institutional knowledge on how that machine works. If the company could afford him, they would do well to put him on staff.

This institutional knowledge — hard-earned through decades of navigating market shifts — represents a critical resource in our fight to increase housing supply. Builders know the complexities of land acquisition, zoning, and financing better than anyone, and it’s this expertise that can guide the industry through today’s challenges. However, it’s not enough to just have this wisdom; we must actively tap into it, sharing strategies and insights across the community to bolster everyone’s chances of success.

Trust and Relationship Capital

Homebuilding is a deeply local business. At its core, it’s about relationships —between builders and local government officials, between developers and community stakeholders, between lenders and planners. These relationships are the bedrock upon which entire neighborhoods are built. They allow projects to move forward in the face of opposition, red tape, and regulatory hurdles. Now more than ever, we need to rely on this trust and capital to produce more new homes and apartment communities at every price range. Builders who have established strong connections in their regions must lead the way, paving the path for collaboration and innovative solutions to the growing demand for affordable housing.

Staying power for builders today and tomorrow will come to those who not only invest resources wisely and operate well but who create and deepen ties to communities within their operating spheres — human ties," says Deborah Flagan, Vice President of Community Engagement & Giving at Hayden Homes.

Next-Generation Energy

At the intersection of technology, data, and AI sits the future of homebuilding. The young, talented members of today’s teams are not just passive participants in the housing industry; they represent the solutions to this generation’s challenges and those of future generations. Their data-driven insights, tech-powered tools, and innovative approaches – with the secret-sauce of institutional knowledge and local relationships capital – have the potential to revolutionize how we design, build, and manage homebuilding's end-to-end life cycle.

We invest a lot of time and money into every aspect of the home buying journey to bring it to the next level. Leveraging technology is fundamental to differentiate from the competition." Alex Akel, CEO, Akel Homes

By fully activating and integrating this next-gen talent into every aspect of our work, we not only address the problems of today, but we future-proof the industry for the decades to come. These young leaders bring a fresh perspective, and their contributions will ensure that housing solutions evolve in tandem with changing societal needs.

The Path Forward: Learning Together, Competing Together

In this moment, the only way forward is through a powerful combination of individual excellence and collective intelligence. For homebuilders, developers, and investors to thrive, we must not only focus on our own bottom lines, but on solving the broader issues at the community level.

This means measuring success not only by profits, but by the number of homes we bring to market, the affordability we can deliver, and the sustainable practices we put in place for future generations. The greatest return on investment will come from companies that foster collaboration between seasoned professionals and next-gen talent, who work together to solve the industry’s hardest problems.

As an industry, we have the ability — and the responsibility — to change the trajectory of the housing market. The challenges may be immense, but we have the wisdom, the relationships, and the youthful energy to rise to the occasion. By committing to high performance at both the company and community levels, we can build a legacy not just of homes, but of resilience, sustainability, and hope for generations to come.

Another note from Ben Horowitz:

People always ask me, 'What’s the secret to being a successful CEO?' Sadly, there is no secret, but if there is one skill that stands out, it’s the ability to focus and make the best move when there are no good moves.”

Now is the time to act. Let's seize this moment and ensure that the next two minutes, and the many to follow, are dedicated to building a better future.