Trump wants Congress to stop Wall Street from buying homes that families could own

Trump pushes Congress to ban Wall Street home buyers

President Donald Trump is urging Congress to pass a law blocking large Wall Street investment firms from buying single-family homes that families could otherwise own. In May 2026, Trump posted on Truth Social, asking Congress to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

He backed a Senate provision that would restrict large institutional investors owning 350 or more homes from buying more. Trump wrote that homes should be “for people, not corporations.”

The push followed his January 20 executive order, which directed federal agencies to limit support for large investors buying homes that families could afford.

The executive order that started it all

Trump signed a major housing executive order on January 20, 2026. The order was titled “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers.” It said large institutional investors should not buy single-family homes that families could otherwise purchase.

It directed the Treasury secretary to review rules governing large investors who buy or hold single-family homes. It also told federal agencies to review housing programs and consider steps that support family buyers over large investors. The order marked the formal start of Trump’s federal push to limit corporate homebuying.

Senate passes sweeping housing bill

On March 12, 2026, the U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by a vote of 89-10. Senators Tim Scott of South Carolina and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts led the bipartisan bill. The Senate version included Section 901.

That section would restrict large institutional investors with investment control over 350 or more single-family homes from buying any additional single-family homes, unless an exception applied.

The bill also included changes to housing supply, finance, manufactured housing, and permitting. Supporters described it as one of the most important federal housing packages in decades.

The House passed its own version first

Before the Senate acted, the House of Representatives passed its own housing bill on February 9, 2026, by a vote of 390-9. That version focused mainly on reducing regulatory barriers to new home construction and modernizing federal housing programs.

It did not include the Senate’s ban on large investors buying single-family homes. After the Senate passed its broader bill, the legislation moved back to the House. The two chambers produced different versions, setting up a clash over how far Congress should go in restricting Wall Street buyers.

Why Wall Street buying worries families

In some U.S. cities, institutional investors own a much larger share of single-family rental homes than they do nationally.

Researchers and housing groups have pointed to Sun Belt markets such as Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston, and Charlotte as places where investor activity is more visible. These investors may have cash and financing advantages over families using mortgages.

Trump’s May 2026 Truth Social post cited Rachel Wiggins, a Houston mother of two who said she placed bids on 20 homes and lost them to investment firms. Her story became part of Trump’s argument for the bill.

How big is Wall Street’s share of homes?

Nationally, large institutional investors own a relatively small slice of the housing market. Research cited by Brookings says large institutional investors own just over 3% of the single-family rental stock.

John Burns Research and Consulting reported in 2024 that institutional investors, defined as owners of 100 or more homes, were buying less than 2% of all homes.

Realtor.com research in 2026 also found that institutional investors accounted for about 1% of total single-family home sales nationally. Even so, their local impact can be larger in tight markets where inventory is limited.

Little-known fact: Institutional investors can be everyday people’s money in disguise because mutual funds pool money from many investors, while pension funds and insurance companies are also major institutional investors.

Investor buying has already cooled

Institutional investor buying has cooled from its pandemic-era peak. Realtor.com research said institutional investors reached their recent buying peak in 2021 and have since fallen to about 1% of total single-family home sales nationally.

John Burns Research and Consulting reported that institutional investors accounted for less than 2% of all home purchases. Higher borrowing costs helped slow investor activity. Freddie Mac reported the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.36% as of May 14, 2026, still high enough to keep affordability pressure on buyers.

The House changes the investor rules

On May 14, 2026, House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill of Arkansas and ranking member Maxine Waters of California announced a revised housing bill. The House version did not simply erase investor limits.

It kept restrictions on large institutional investors but removed the Senate’s forced-sale rule for build-to-rent housing. It also added carveouts for new rental housing and major renovations.

A bipartisan group of 76 House members had urged leaders to remove or revise Section 901, saying it could hurt the build-to-rent supply. The revised bill was moving toward a House vote.

Senate supporters push back

Senate supporters pushed back after the House revised the Senate’s Section 901 approach. The Senate version included Trump-backed restrictions on large institutional investors buying single-family homes, while the House amendment kept investor limits but softened the build-to-rent provisions.

The House changes meant the chambers still had to agree on final language before the bill could reach Trump’s desk. That left uncertainty over whether Congress could finish the housing package before the November midterms.

The dispute centered less on whether large investors should face limits and more on how strict those limits should be for build-to-rent housing.

The build-to-rent debate stalls progress

A key sticking point between the two chambers was how to treat build-to-rent housing. That means homes built by investors specifically for rental. The Senate bill would have required investors to sell certain build-to-rent homes to individual buyers within seven years of purchase.

Industry groups warned that the rule would “effectively halt” build-to-rent housing production nationwide. The National Association of Home Builders pushed for the mandate’s removal. The House version removed the forced-sale rule, kept restrictions on large institutional investors, and added carveouts for new rental housing and major renovations.

Other barriers slow the bill

The housing bill also faced obstacles unrelated to Wall Street. The Senate version included language temporarily blocking the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency through 2030. Some House Republicans wanted a stronger or permanent ban.

Latham & Watkins also noted that Trump’s March 2026 statement tying other legislation to a separate voting bill added uncertainty to the housing bill’s path. These side fights made final passage harder because the House and Senate still had to agree on the same text before the bill could reach the president.

What else the housing bill would do?

Beyond the investor debate, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act included many housing supply ideas with bipartisan support. The bill included provisions tied to housing counseling, rental assistance, whole-home repairs, public welfare investments, community development grants, and manufactured housing reforms.

It also aimed to streamline rules and support faster housing production. Supporters said the package could give communities more tools to build and preserve homes. The Senate and House still had to agree on the final text, but many parts of the bill focused on supply, affordability, and modernization rather than investor limits.

U.S. families with mixed-citizenship members may lose homes, as the proposed rule adds another concern for families already struggling with housing access and affordability.

The median first-time buyer is now 40

The housing affordability crisis extends well beyond the investor debate. The National Association of Realtors said the median age of a first-time homebuyer reached a record high of 40 in 2025. First-time buyers also fell to a record-low 21% share of home purchases.

The Center for American Progress estimated that tariffs on homebuilding materials could add about $17,500 to the cost of building a new home at current building rates. High home prices, limited supply, elevated mortgage rates, and higher construction costs continue to push homeownership further out of reach for many families.

Americans face health insurance premiums that outpace mortgage payments, showing how housing is not the only major cost squeezing household budgets.

Do you think Congress should stop Wall Street firms from buying homes that families could own? Share your thoughts and drop a comment.

This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.

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