Trump backs ban on institutional buyers in housing market

• Key insight: President Donald Trump said he would ban institutional investment in single-family homes, and called on Congress to codify the changes. 
• What’s at stake: Banks are often financiers of institutional investments in single-family housing stock. 
• Forward look: The White House doesn’t have unilateral power to ban institutional investors from purchasing single family homes, but Trump can pressure Congress and leverage the Treasury and other regulators to make progress toward that end. 

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on social media that he will prohibit institutional investors from purchasing single family homes. 

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The White House’s ability to institute such a ban on its own is unclear, and Trump’s post gave no specifics on how such a ban would be enacted. Trump said he would have more to say on the issue at the World Economic Forum in Davos in two weeks. 

Any action would likely require legislation, and Trump called on Congress to codify his idea, which would likely garner bipartisan support.  

“I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes. …” Trump said on social media. “People live in homes, not corporations.” 

Institutional investment in single family homes was a talking point during the 2024 campaign, and one that found purchase on both sides of the aisle.

Trump’s support of an institutional investment ban adds considerable political weight at a time when a housing bill is currently making its way through both chambers of Congress, providing a convenient legislative vehicle for lawmakers to codify a ban. The housing package passed the Senate Banking Committee unanimously, while the House Financial Services Committee is currently considering its own version. 

Trump’s post is a win for the emerging populist wing of the Republican party, particularly ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, in which Democrats are expected to benefit from the unpopularity of many of Trump’s second-term policies. Republicans who’ve been skeptical of proposals that would negatively affect businesses may well bow to Trump’s pressure. 

“We appreciate that many important congressional Republicans have opposed this in the past. Our view is that they will concede on this issue rather than fight the President,” said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at TD Cowen, in a research note. “We will be watching if this shifts from a forward-focused ban to the required divestiture of existing single-family home portfolios.”