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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at preventing large institutional investors (companies linked to Wall Street) from buying single-family homes that, according to the White House, could be purchased by families.
The document, titled “Preventing Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers,” proposes as a policy of the administration that these actors stop displacing individual buyers in the residential market.
The order instructs the administration to issue definitions and guidelines with specific deadlines
- In 30 days: the Secretary of the Treasury must develop, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the definitions of "large institutional investor" and "single-family housing" to implement the order.
- In 60 days: several agencies (Agriculture, HUD, Veterans Affairs, General Services, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency) must issue guidelines to prevent, "to the maximum extent permitted by law," federal entities and government-sponsored enterprises from approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating the purchase of single-family homes by large institutional investors, and to promote sales to owner-occupants (including “anti-avoidance” provisions, “first look” policies, and disclosure requirements).
- Treasury Review: the document instructs Treasury to review rules and guidelines related to the acquisition or ownership of single-family homes by institutional buyers and to consider changes in accordance with applicable laws.
- Antitrust: it calls on the Department of Justice and the FTC to review substantial acquisitions (including “acquisition series”) to detect anticompetitive effects and prioritize the enforcement of antitrust laws against coordinated strategies of vacancies and pricing in local single-family home rental markets, when appropriate.
- Transparency in federal programs: HUD orders the requirement for disclosures from affiliated owners/managers in single-family rentals participating in federal assistance programs, to determine the involvement of major institutional investors "to the fullest extent permitted by law."
- Legislative route: it is ordered to prepare a legislative recommendation to codify the policy of Section 1.
The text also states that the order will be implemented in accordance with applicable law and subject to budgetary availability, and asserts that it does not create enforceable rights against the government.
In the section on purpose and policy, the order states that the dream of homeownership has become more difficult due to inflation and high rates, and argues that a growing number of single-family homes have been acquired by large investors, displacing families—especially young and working families—who cannot compete with their resources.
"People live in homes, not corporations," the document states, indicating that its administration will act to prevent Wall Street from treating neighborhoods as a "stock market."
The order focuses on "large institutional investors," but leaves the key detail for implementation: what will be considered "large" and which properties qualify as “single-family housing” will be defined by the Treasury within the set timeframe.
Additionally, it includes "strictly tailored" exceptions for properties constructed for rental that are planned and financed as rental communities, among others that each agency deems appropriate to fulfill the policy.
The announcement comes amid a national debate about the pressure exerted by institutional investors in certain local markets.
Days earlier, U.S. media reported that Trump was looking to promote restrictions on these buyers as part of his housing affordability agenda.
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