U.S. President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that institutional investors should be banned from purchasing single-family homes. He insisted that regulation is necessary as corporates buying residential properties are driving up housing prices, making homeownership increasingly unattainable for average Americans.
He hinted at the forthcoming implementation of relevant regulations.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump asserted that institutional investors should be prohibited from buying single-family homes. He stated, “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.”
Trump 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.”
Over the past decade, major institutional investors, including private equity firms and real estate investment trusts, have acquired single-family homes on a massive scale to convert them into rental properties.
Many experts argue that this has significantly reduced the housing supply available to potential homeowners and contributed to higher home prices.
Stocks related to this sector declined sharply following Trump’s comments.
Invitation Homes, the largest single-family rental company in the U.S., saw its stock plummet 6.6% immediately after Trump’s remarks. Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm and an active player in the housing rental market, fell 4.4%.
Shares of Apollo Global Management, another private equity giant, fell by 4%, while BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, saw its stock decline by 2.6%.
Trump did not provide details on the specific measures he would pursue to implement his proposed ban.
