President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order intended to curb the influence of Wall Street investors in the single-family home market, a move presented as an effort to enhance housing affordability across the United States. This directive, announced during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, seeks to diminish competition from institutional buyers and favor individual homeowners in the purchasing process.
The order mandates federal regulators to encourage home sales predominantly directed towards individual buyers. It also sets forth guidelines to prevent federal housing programs from inadvertently facilitating home acquisitions by Wall Street firms. Moreover, it calls for increased antitrust scrutiny of institutional home purchases and urges Congress to formalize these changes through legislation.
Alongside these measures, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett disclosed plans allowing 401(k) retirement funds to be used as down payments on homes, with further details forthcoming.
Despite these intentions, investors remain skeptical about the actual impact of the executive order on housing affordability, emphasizing that insufficient housing supply remains the primary driver of rising prices. David Wagner, head of equities and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, articulated that the fundamental issue is not a lack of demand but constrained supply. He warned that increasing demand without a corresponding rise in available homes is bound to elevate housing costs further.
Although the Trump administration has pursued policies designed to streamline construction and reduce related expenses, such as removing regulatory barriers to building and renovation, the main challenge to expanding housing stock lies within local government regulations and controls that the federal government cannot directly override.
Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments, affirmed that boosting demand without enhancing supply typically results in increased prices. He highlighted the difficulty of effecting substantial changes to local building rules at the federal level but underscored the importance of making it easier to build new housing as the most effective remedy.
Since 2016, the year Trump was first elected, U.S. home prices have surged by approximately 75%, more than twice the rise in the Consumer Price Index. Nevertheless, recent data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency indicates a significant slowdown, with national home sale prices climbing only 1.7% in October over the preceding year—the smallest increase in over thirteen years. Concurrently, the National Association of Realtors has noted modest improvements in housing availability within the past year.
Jim Tobin, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, stated that his organization has actively engaged with the current administration to advocate for policies conducive to lowering housing production costs. Tobin also remarked that corporate investments in housing have contributed positively to new home construction.
A spokesperson for the White House, Davis Ingle, reassured the commitment of the administration to utilizing every viable tool to enhance housing affordability nationwide.
The presence of institutional investors such as Blackstone, American Homes 4 Rent, and Progress Residential in the single-family rental market has been significant since the 2008 financial crisis. As of June 2022, these entities collectively owned around 3% of all single-family rental homes, according to government data. These firms contest the notion that their involvement has driven up home prices, instead pointing to inadequate supply as the root cause.
In response, Blackstone reported being a net seller of homes over the last decade, while representatives from American Homes 4 Rent and Progress Residential did not immediately provide comments. However, experts caution that restrictions on institutional landlords might inadvertently dampen new home construction in the rental segment, potentially constraining supply further, as noted by the AEI Housing Center.
Following a 3.4% decline ending 2025, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index has rebounded robustly, posting an 8.15% gain year-to-date, reflecting market volatility and investor interest.
Under mounting pressure to address voter concerns on housing affordability ahead of upcoming congressional elections, the Trump administration has unveiled additional initiatives, including government purchases of mortgage bonds and proposals for extended 50-year mortgages, aimed at encouraging homeownership.
The housing sector, having experienced a period of stagnation, is drawing cautious optimism from some investors who see potential in these policy measures. Greg Halter, director of research at Carnegie Investment Counsel, noted that successful implementation of these initiatives could yield substantial positive effects in the markets.