President Donald Trump addressed House Republican Party members at the Kennedy Center in Washington on January 6, 2026, where he highlighted his renewed focus on tackling housing affordability. Trump has identified institutional investors, which own significant portions of single-family homes, particularly in rapidly growing Sun Belt cities, as a major obstacle for would-be homeowners competing against Wall Street for these properties.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump argued that corporate ownership is contributing to making housing less accessible for average Americans. He announced immediate steps to restrict large institutional investors from purchasing additional single-family homes.
The initiative appears targeted at metropolitan areas such as Atlanta and Jacksonville, where the rate of investor ownership significantly surpasses the national average. Although institutional investors own approximately 2% of the nation's single-family rental homes, their influence is considerably more concentrated in the Southeast. The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that investors control about a quarter of Atlanta's single-family rental market, over a fifth of Jacksonville's, and maintain substantial shares in Charlotte and Tampa.