President Donald Trump has declared his intention to prohibit large institutional investors from acquiring additional single-family homes, citing the erosion of the American Dream due to high inflation and housing affordability issues.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream. It was the reward for working hard, and doing the right thing, but now, because of the record-high inflation caused by Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress, that American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans.”
He continued: “It is for that reason, and much more, that I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it. People live in homes, not corporations.”
Trump indicated he would elaborate on this proposal, along with other housing and affordability measures, during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in two weeks. Bipartisan critics have long accused these investors of inflating home prices by outbidding individual buyers and imposing above-market rents.
Major players, including Blackstone, Invitation Homes, American Homes 4 Rent, and Progress Residential, have ramped up purchases since the 2008 financial crisis. A 2024 Government Accountability Office study revealed that institutional investors held about 450,000 homes as of June 2022, representing roughly 3% of U.S. single-family rentals. This figure rises significantly in high-growth Southern markets like Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Tampa.
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