The housing affordability crisis is not just an interest-rate problem. It is the result of decades of choices that have made it harder, slower and more expensive to build the homes America needs.

In Part 1 of this conversation, Zeb Lowe sits down with Brian Hurd, senior vice president of national builder strategy at Cardinal Financial, to examine the forces reshaping American housing.

Brian shares how his path from construction sites to mortgage leadership gave him a ground-level understanding of the builder business — and why that perspective still shapes the way he works with lenders, developers and housing professionals today.

The conversation moves beyond rates and loan products to the structural pressures facing the market: rising material costs, labor shortages, zoning constraints, shrinking affordability and the widening gap between what buyers can afford and what builders can profitably deliver.

Brian also explains the critical distinction between affordable housing and attainable housing. Solving the missing-middle problem, he argues, will require more than new programs or lower rates. It will require builders, lenders and policymakers to reconsider how homes are designed, financed and brought to market.

For anyone in mortgage, real estate, construction or housing policy, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at why homeownership has become harder to reach — and what needs to change.

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The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire’s Zeb Lowe every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they’re differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.