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Housing availability and affordability will continue to be pressing issues for Americans in 2025 after it became a top concern for voters in the 2024 election.
Nearly 70% of Americans said they were “very concerned” about the cost of housing, according to pre-election polling, and many indicated the issue would factor into their ballot decision.
Housing groups like the American Property Owners Alliance (APOA), one of the only nonprofit organizations focused exclusively on advancing private property rights and the interests of property owners in the country, are looking to leverage recent momentum and consumer attention to turn it into action. While Washington is often criticized for its inability to overcome partisanship, the organization works across the aisle on common-sense policies that help Americans build generational wealth through property ownership.
“[Housing] is a huge issue, and we need to figure out what we can do in a bipartisan way to advance housing affordability and ownership sustainability in these challenging times,” says APOA Executive Director Colin Allen.
To inform its policy proposals, the APOA is listening to consumers across the country about how their lives are being impacted by housing challenges and the organization is channeling its energy and input to inspire changes on Capitol Hill.
“Due to current mortgage rates, shifts in the real estate market and the rising costs of property insurance, property taxes and basic necessities to live, we feel financially stuck in our starter home,” one Florida homeowner told APOA.
“I have several members of my family living in my home with me because the housing and rental prices are too astronomical for them to pay. Something needs to change!” said a Washington state homeowner.
Since 2020, APOA has become a powerhouse: Building from their audience of 10 million homeowners, attracting tens of thousands of followers on social media and leveraging a core of over 45,000 directly engaged advocates who use their voices to reach lawmakers across the aisle in support of housing policies.
Part of the power of APOA is its ability to spur grassroots action through its consumer outreach. Just last month, for instance, APOA partnered with social media influencers in a call-to-action campaign to rally around the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, resulting in 5,000 letters sent to members of Congress.
To expand the reach of its advocacy, the alliance is building coalition partnerships by providing grants to organizations that support and advance homeownership.
Since its inception, APOA has provided funding to groups across the political aisle, including both liberal and conservative organizations.
“One of the tools in the toolbox that we have in terms of building coalitions and moving the needle on some of our issues is the grantmaking piece of the organization,” Allen says.
American Action Network, House Majority Forward, the National Black Empowerment Council, One Nation, and Opportunity Matters Network have all received APOA funding since 2020, as reported in the organization’s 990 forms.
APOA audits each group’s track record on property rights, including topics like rent control and tax reform, before presenting a recommendation for funding to the board for approval.
Jim Imhoff, chairman emeritus of Wisconsin’s First Weber Inc. and APOA president, says they look at how these organizations align with APOA’s philosophies on issues like affordable housing, flood insurance, available property insurance and more.
“We have long been concerned about these issues and now we have a vehicle that allows us to drive support,” Imhoff, who received NAR’s Distinguished Service Award this year, said.
Allen says APOA is open to considering funding for any organization that meets its criteria.
Cultivating relationships with grassroots organizations is how the alliance launched its nationwide education events. APOA partnered with the National Black Empowerment Council (NBEC) to lead events and expert panels from Dallas to Charlotte on building generational wealth and closing the racial homeownership gap.
“Colin came to us last year and said that it’s a major priority of the organization to come to African American-majority cities and to really help educate our people on the process of how to acquire homeownership,” NBEC President and CEO Darius Jones said at a recent event in Atlanta. “Any group that gives of itself to want to come and share with us so that we can stay ahead of that information curve—so that we can participate and benefit from these phenomenal opportunities—is a great organization.”
APOA isn’t slowing down during the holiday season; it’s gearing up for an event on Dec. 14 in Little Rock, Ark.
“I'd say the dream of homeownership is still alive and still part of the American dream,” Allen says. “There's just this hunger for information on how to position yourself to become a homeowner, to build that generational wealth that will help your family into the future.”
In the new year, Allen says, APOA will be laser-focused on the reauthorization of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act and the More Homes on the Market Act.
