Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has introduced legislation banning institutional investors and large corporations from buying single-family homes. She argues that the actions of large corporations doing so contributes to skyrocketing housing prices.
Rep. Luna's Stopping Wall Street From Competing With Main Street Homebuyers Act not only prohibits these entities from buying houses to convert into rental homes, but it also defines covered entities as firms with over $500 million in assets under management or those that acquire more than 5 homes within a 30-day period.
Additionally, all companies that have purchased single-family homes must fully divest in 10 years, with a minimum of 10% of all houses purchased sold off.
"American families should be competing with other families for homes — not Wall Street hedge funds, multinational corporations, and mega-investors like BlackRock," said Rep. Luna in a press release. "This bill restores fairness to the housing market, lowers artificial price inflation, and puts the American Dream of homeownership back within reach. This is about choosing people over powerful financial interests, communities over corporations, and American families over global investment firms. Housing should not be a speculative asset class; it should be a path to stability, security, and prosperity."
President Donald Trump previously signaled support for banning corporations from buying up houses at the beginning of January, saying, "That American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans. People live in homes, not corporations."
However, some have raised concerns about the efficacy of such a ban, pointing out that large investors own approximately 4% of the single-family market, and banning them from buying may only result in smaller companies buying houses, not first-time homebuyers.
One alternative solution proposed by the Urban Institute's Laurie Goodman was that, rather than an outright ban, these firms should be required to provide "more" for tenants, though Goodman did not specify what that means.
