President Donald Trump announced his intention to prohibit large institutional investors from acquiring more single-family homes. “I am taking immediate action to prohibit large institutional investors from acquiring additional single-family homes, and I will be urging Congress to formalize this measure. ‘People live in homes, not corporations,’” Trump stated in a social media post. In recent years, significant institutional investors, including Blackstone and JPMorgan Chase, along with various banks and investment firms, have actively acquired family homes, motivated by the potential for increasing returns on home prices. Investors frequently acquire properties for rental purposes, with their numbers increasing following the foreclosure crisis that marked the Great Recession in 2008, especially in the Sun Belt region.
Blackstone’s shares experienced a decline of up to 9% on Wednesday following a social media post from the president. Trump indicated his intention to present further proposals regarding housing and affordability in the near future, stating: “I will discuss this topic, including further Housing and Affordability proposals, and more, at my speech in Davos in two weeks.” Trump is set to present an address at the World Economic Forum later this month in Davos, Switzerland. The price of purchasing a home in the United States has escalated in recent years, primarily due to a housing market that has historically been constrained by low inventory, coupled with mortgage rates exceeding 6%.
In addition to the overarching housing shortage, a significant number of sellers have been reluctant to relinquish the exceptionally low mortgage rates secured during the pandemic, a period characterized by the Federal Reserve’s reduction of interest rates to nearly zero. From the beginning of 2020 through the third quarter of 2025, home prices experienced an increase of almost 55% across the country, as indicated by a recent report. As of 2011, the Government Accountability Office reported that no investor possessed 1,000 or more single-family rental homes. By 2015, institutional investors had collectively acquired ownership of approximately 300,000 homes. As of 2022, large investors held a significant share, exceeding 15%, of the single-family home market in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina, as reported.
Legislators across the political spectrum have suggested prohibiting specific corporate investors from participating in the home-buying market, contending that their strategy of acquiring properties in large quantities has driven up prices and created challenges for individual Americans seeking homes. However, certain housing experts and economists have criticized the proposal to prohibit large investors, arguing that it would minimally affect the total housing inventory and could potentially dampen investment in the market. “This will not resolve the issue of housing affordability. It may boost single-family purchases, but it will come at the cost of reducing single-family rentals,” stated Jaret Seiberg.