The president’s announcement came against a backdrop of high inflation, which Trump blamed on former President Biden and Congressional Democrats.
President Trump told Truth Social on Wednesday that he would “take immediate action” to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes.
The president’s announcement comes against a backdrop of high levels of inflation that Trump blames on former President Biden and Congressional Democrats, and that inflation is making homeownership harder for Americans to achieve.
“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American dream,” Trump wrote.
“It was a reward for working hard and doing the right thing, but now, because of the record high inflation that Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats have created, that American dream is increasingly out of reach for too many people, especially young Americans,” he continued. “That’s why I’m taking immediate action to ban large institutional investors from purchasing more single-family homes, and I’m going to ask Congress to codify it. People live in homes, not businesses.”
The president concluded his post by saying he would discuss the topic further at the World Economic Forum in Davos in two weeks.
In the years immediately following the pandemic, institutional investors such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private equity firms rapidly increased their inventory of single-family homes for rental. Some lawmakers and affordable housing advocates have since criticized the programs, saying they are driving up housing prices while taking supply away from Americans.
However, recently institutional investors have not been very active. According to Redfin, home purchases by U.S. investors in the third quarter of 2025 increased by just 1% compared to the same period last year. In the quarter, investor purchases accounted for about 17% of all U.S. home sales, or about 52,000 units. Redfin added that the percentage of investors who ended up selling their homes at a loss was also the highest in two years.
Affordable housing has long been a popular voting issue rallying Americans. However, some experts argue that restricting institutional purchases too much could be detrimental to the market. These organizations are important in renovating dilapidated homes and serve as a reliable source of demand for builders.
It’s also not entirely clear how President Trump would legally enact such a ban. Some U.S. states, including New York and California, have introduced laws that limit the number of institutional investors who can buy homes. When former Vice President Kamala Harris was running for president, she asked Congress to prohibit investors who own 50 or more homes from deducting interest and depreciation on those properties.
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