United States President Donald Trump has announced he plans to stop institutional investors buying single-family homes in an effort to lower home prices in the United States.
“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network.
“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.
“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. I will discuss this topic, including further Housing and Affordability proposals, and more, at my speech in Davos in two weeks.”
Wall Street firms like Blackstone (BX.N), American Homes 4 Rent (AMH.N) and Progress Residential have bought thousands of single-family homes since the financial crisis of 2008 led to a wave of home foreclosures, according to a Reuters news report.
By June 2022, institutional investors owned around 450,000 homes, or about 3%, of all single-family rental homes nationally, according to a 2024 study by the Government Accountability Office, Reuters reported in this story.
Ironically such a move would be consistent with the goals of the Republican President’s political opponents who blame corporate homebuying for increasing house prices.
Since Trump was first elected in 2016U.S. home prices have risen 75%, more than double the increase in overall consumer prices.
