Trump Calls for Ban on Wall Street Buying Single-Family Homes, Says Housing Should Be for Families, Not Corporations

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States should move to block large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes, arguing that Wall Street’s growing role in the housing market has made it harder for ordinary Americans to achieve homeownership.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump framed the issue as a direct assault on the American Dream, which he said has been undermined by economic policies under President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats. Trump said soaring inflation has driven housing costs to record levels, placing homeownership increasingly out of reach, particularly for younger Americans.

“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream,” Trump wrote. He described homeownership as the reward for hard work and personal responsibility, but said that reality has changed as prices have surged. According to Trump, inflation under the current administration has played a major role in pushing housing beyond the grasp of many families.

Trump said he is taking immediate steps to stop large institutional investors from buying additional single-family homes and plans to urge Congress to put the policy into law. “People live in homes, not corporations,” he wrote, underscoring his argument that housing should serve families rather than investment portfolios.

Over the past decade, private equity firms, real estate investment trusts and other institutional players have built massive portfolios of single-family rental properties. Critics have long argued that this trend has reduced the supply of homes available for purchase by individuals and helped drive up prices, especially in fast-growing markets.

Financial markets reacted quickly to Trump’s remarks. Shares of Invitation Homes, the largest single-family home rental operator in the country, fell 7%. Stock in Blackstone, which owns and rents large numbers of single-family homes, dropped 4%. Other major institutional investors with significant real estate exposure also saw declines, including Apollo Global Management and BlackRock.

Trump did not outline specific details on how a ban on institutional purchases would be enforced or structured. However, he said more information on his housing and affordability agenda would be coming soon. Trump announced plans to present additional proposals during an upcoming speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, scheduled for two weeks from now.

The policy push comes as housing affordability remains strained nationwide. According to the National Association of Realtors, the national median existing single-family home price reached $426,800 in the third quarter of 2025, after peaking at a record $435,300 earlier in the summer. At the same time, borrowing costs remain elevated, with the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage currently at 6.19%, according to Mortgage News Daily.

Institutional investors have expanded aggressively in the real estate sector in recent years. Blackstone alone has become the largest private-equity owner of apartments in the United States, controlling more than 230,000 units, according to data released last year by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. The firm has spent billions acquiring real estate companies, including Tricon Residential, American Campus Communities and AIR Communities.

Trump’s proposal reflects a broader populist message he has emphasized repeatedly: that economic policy should favor working families over large financial interests. By targeting institutional ownership of single-family homes, Trump is positioning himself as a defender of homebuyers who feel boxed out by Wall Street money.

While details of the plan remain unclear, Trump’s statement sent a clear signal that housing affordability will be a central issue in his economic agenda, with a focus on restoring homeownership as a realistic goal for everyday Americans.