Details Emerge on Trump’s Single-Family Home Investor Ban

Donald Trump’s single-family home investor ban net is stretching wider than hoped for in the eyes of midsize investors.

The White House is seeking to ban investors with at least 100 single-family homes from buying more properties in the market, the Wall Street Journal reported. The specifics came in a memo sent to the House and Senate committee leaders yesterday as the two legislative bodies work to reconcile their respective housing bills.

Midsize investors were crossing their fingers for a ban that targeted larger investors in the market, particularly those with at least 1,000 homes in their portfolios. The lower threshold could force hundreds of investors to the sidelines in the housing market.

There will be exemptions, however, including for investors who are building or renovating homes to be rented out.

There’s also a chance the definition of what investors will be prohibited from buying homes will change, as that decision will be under the Treasury Secretary’s purview.

“The President has made it clear that he is committed to signing legislation that truly makes purchasing a home affordable again, and a key ingredient is his popular proposal to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes,” a White House spokesperson said.

Institutional investors — which often turn around and rent out the homes they buy to those who can’t afford homeownership — are often depicted as paying above market-rate for homes, driving up prices and boxing out others.

But investors accounted for roughly 30 percent of single-family home purchases at the beginning of 2025, according to Bloomberg. Small investors made up more than 90 percent of that share and are proving increasingly active in the single-family housing market.

Overall, large institutional investors own 2 percent of the nation’s single-family rental homes.

The House of Representatives passed the “Housing in the 21st Century Act,” a broad, bipartisan package aimed at boosting housing supply and affordability, last week. The Senate still needs to pass its bill before a reconciliation takes place.

The investor ban was excluded from the House bill, meaning it would be imperative for it to be added to the Senate bill to increase the likelihood it makes it to the final version.

— Holden Walter-Warner