Trump ‘taking steps’ to ban corporate home purchases 

Last month, President Donald Trump promised to announce "some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history." In what could be Trump's first big reform initiative of the new year, the president has proposed a significant limitation on corporate home purchases.   

A ban on institutional investors: Trump took to Truth Social earlier today, announcing his intention to prohibit certain investors from scooping up single-family properties.

"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," the president wrote in a Jan. 7 post. "People live in homes, not corporations. I will discuss this topic, including further Housing and Affordability proposals, and more at my speech in Davos in two weeks," he added.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner, who has advocated for housing reform via deregulation and more residential construction, responded to the news on X, stating that "President Trump is not afraid to take bold action to make housing more affordable for the American people."

If this policy proposal is successfully enacted, it could mark a big change for residential real estate. A recent report by the Lincoln Institute of Land found that corporations — which include small, local corporate buyers — own 8.9% of residential parcels in urban areas.

Corporations react: Investors initially expressed alarm following the announcement, with stock prices dropping around 10% for housing investors like Blackstone, Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent. Those stocks were able to trim their losses, however, ending the day down around 5%.

Mega-investors a growing market: It's unclear what the president means by "large institutional investors," but if he's referring to companies that own more than 1,000 single-family properties, those investors have been expanding their portfolios. According to the Lincoln report, 32 institutional investors collectively owned 446,000 single-family homes in 2021. A decade earlier, no one investor owned more than 1,000 single-family properties.

Even with that growth, however, a separate report from BatchData found that mega-investors with 1,000+ homes hold just 2.1% of investor-owned inventory.

1 in 3 homes purchased by investors: The broader investor segment, which includes home flippers and small-time landlords, represents a growing share of buyers in the sluggish housing market. The BatchData analysis found that investors bought 345,752 homes in the second quarter of 2025, accounting for 33% of all home purchases — the highest level in five years.

Cotality has reported similar numbers, with 29% of single-family home purchases last June coming from investors. When mortgage rates are elevated, investors, who are more likely to pay in cash, tend to have an advantage over the typical buyer.

"Plus, current high prices can be offset by strong rental returns," Thom Malone, principal economist at Cotality, said in September.

Still, with 90% of investor-owned homes purchased by individuals with fewer than 11 properties, it's not yet clear if Trump's proposal would have a meaningful impact on housing affordability for the average homebuyer.