Mr. Trump said he is promoting a ban on Wall Street companies buying houses for rent, in order to reduce real estate prices.
In a post on Truth Social on January 7, US President Donald Trump said he would immediately take steps to ban Wall Street businesses from buying houses for sublease, and called on Congress to legislate this regulation.
“People live in houses, not corporations,” he said. This view of the president is similar to the Democratic Party, saying that businesses buying houses in bulk contributes to driving up prices.
US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida on January 3. Image: AP
Wall Street firms like Blackstone, American Homes 4 Rent and Progress Residential have bought tens of thousands of single-family homes since the 2008 financial crisis, when a wave of foreclosures spread.
According to a 2024 study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), by June 2022, institutional investors owned about 450,000 homes, equivalent to about 3% of the total number of individual rental houses nationwide.
In addition, critics say Wall Street firms are also irresponsible landlords. They cut maintenance costs to please investors and wrongly evicted tenants during the pandemic.
Jeff Holzmann, director of real estate investment firm RRAF Holdings in Dallas, said the resident experience is being negatively impacted. “Instead of calling the landlord to discuss the problem, you have to call a roundabout customer care center that can’t solve anything,” he described.
Wall Street firms deny that their investments contribute to rising home prices. In a report published in January 2025, Blackstone said that supply shortages are the main cause of house price escalation.
According to a Blackstone spokesperson, rental home ownership is only a small portion of the business and the company has been a net seller of housing over the past decade. “We believe our current portfolio is well positioned and operated to the highest standards for residents,” the person said.
The GAO study concluded that the impact of home buying organizations on Americans’ homeownership opportunities is unclear, partly because of limited data. It is unclear what authority Mr. Trump will rely on to impose the ban.
Since Trump’s first term victory, home prices in the US have increased 75%. However, the upward momentum has slowed significantly over the past year. As of November 2025, housing cost inflation – which jumped to 8.2% after the pandemic – has dropped to 3%, the lowest level in more than 4 years, according to the US Department of Labor.