As U.S. mortgage rates surge to a six-month high, former White House official and the founder of SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci, is sounding the alarm on a widening generational wealth gap, declaring the American Dream “impaired” but not entirely dead.
The Affordability Crisis And Lost Purchasing Power
In a recent social media post, Scaramucci highlighted the stark reality of modern housing affordability by comparing his father’s era to today. “My dad made $32,000 a year. He bought a house for $16,000,” Scaramucci noted. “That same house is worth $780,000 today.”
Pricing his father’s 1976 wages in modern dollars, Scaramucci pointed out a 27% drop in middle-class purchasing power. He added, “He could not afford today the life he was able to give us. There is real tragedy in that, and we should be honest about it instead of pretending the ladder is still where it used to be.”
Surging Rates Compound The Squeeze
Scaramucci's comments arrive as the housing market faces severe macroeconomic headwinds. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage recently climbed to 6.38%—reaching 6.64% in late March—marking its highest level in six months.
Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) attributes the spike to rising Treasury yields and renewed inflation fears tied to escalating global energy prices. Adding to the strain, the OECD projects U.S. headline inflation will rise to an aggressive 4.2% in 2026.
Mounting Risks For Buyers
With affordability heavily pressured, financial expert Dave Ramsey has cautioned that entering today’s volatile housing market is fraught with financial risk.
Ramsey warned that a single mistake in the process could cost buyers “tens of thousands of dollars,” while noting that rising levels of car, student loan, and credit card debt are already squeezing first-time buyers out of the market entirely.
Waiting For Leadership
Despite the bleak economic backdrop—and Zillow’s modest projection of just 0.7% home price growth by the end of 2026—Scaramucci firmly rejects the notion that opportunity is gone forever for working-class families.
“I refuse to say it's dead,” he affirmed regarding the American Dream. “It's just waiting for leaders worthy of it.”
Here are a few real estate and REIT-based ETFs for investors to consider.
| ETFs | YTD Performance | 6-Month Performance | One Year Performance |
| SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE:XHB) | -7.19% | -13.75% | -0.56% |
| Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF (NYSE:VNQ) | -2.12% | -4.47% | -2.65% |
| Schwab US REIT ETF (NYSE:SCHH) | -1.85% | 1.34% | -0.61% |
| Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) | -1.25% | -4.56% | -2.90% |
| iShares US Real Estate ETF (NYSE:IYR) | -1.74% | -4.14% | -1.77% |
| iShares Core US REIT ETF (NYSE:USRT) | 1.67% | -0.61% | 2.33% |
| DFA Dimensional Global Real Estate ETF (NYSE:DFGR) | -1.10% | -4.32% | 0.15% |
| SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (NYSE:RWR) | 0.59% | -0.69% | 1.34% |
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
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