5 ways Trump's proposed institutional single-family homebuying ban could affect the housing market

"On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced: "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." Soon afterwards, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) tweeted that he'll "introduce legislation in the Senate to codify this [ban] into law." The general idea has some support on the other side of the aisle as well. Back February 2025, the Humans over Private Equity for Homeownership Act was introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and co-sponsored by Angus King (I-Maine), Chris VanHollen (D-Maryland), Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), and Mark Kelly (D-Arizona)."

"Trump's announcement on Wednesday raises a lot of questions that have yet to be answered. Is this just midterm-year politicking, or a policy proposal that could actually be enacted? Would such a ban be challenged in court? What qualifies as a "large institutional investor" under Trump's proposed ban? Would it target only scatter-site acquisitions, or also build-to-rent development? Would the ban require institutional investors to sell off their current single-family rental portfolios? Given what we know today, I've outlined 5 things housing stakeholders should keep in mind."

"1. The effects of an institutional single-family homebuying ban would vary sharply by region On a national level, "large investors"-those owning at least 100 single-family homes-only own around 1% of total single-family housing stock. That said, in a handful of regional housing markets, institutional and large single-family landlords have a much larger presence. Markets like Phoenix and Atlanta became major hubs for institutional single-family rental investment following the 2008 housing crash as the asset class started to institutionalize. Firms such as Invitatio"

President Donald Trump announced an immediate step to ban large institutional investors from buying additional single-family homes and urged Congress to codify the ban. Senator Bernie Moreno said he will introduce Senate legislation to codify the ban, and bipartisan legislation called the Humans over Private Equity for Homeownership Act had previously been introduced and co-sponsored by several senators. Multiple core questions remain about legal vulnerability, the definition of "large institutional investor," whether scatter-site purchases or build-to-rent developments would be targeted, and whether current portfolios would need to be sold. Impacts would vary sharply by region; large investors owning at least 100 single-family homes account for roughly 1% of national single-family housing stock but have much larger shares in select markets such as Phoenix and Atlanta, which became hubs after the 2008 crash.

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