Should Congress bar big investors from buying single-family homes?

"Institutional investors should be banned from owning single-family homes. The American dream is built on homeownership, and every person in the United States should be able to work hard and afford a home. Institutional investors reduce the supply and increase home prices turning potential homeowners into lifelong renters. This, in the long run, will eliminate the average American's ability to build generational wealth and pass it on to their children."

"Investors have mixed effects on housing affordability. Families who cannot afford to buy benefit from renting in neighborhoods with strong schools. Investors can also stabilize markets during downturns, as they did after the financial crisis when prices collapsed. To improve affordability, limiting ownership by large investors in markets where they have pricing power would make more sense than an all-out ban. And if the goal is to increase housing supply and improve affordability, there are far better tools than investment restrictions."

President Donald Trump proposed asking Congress to stop large investors and private equity firms from buying single-family homes. The proposal offered few details but reflected broader calls to limit investor-driven price increases. Critics say the problem is limited, noting institutional investors own about 4% of single-family rentals and some counties report very low institutional ownership. Restricting big firms could be politically popular and might slightly affect market dynamics. One economist advocates a ban to preserve homeownership and generational wealth. Another expert cautions that investors can stabilize markets and recommends targeted limits and supply-focused policies instead.

Read at The Mercury News