The Real Problem with Affordable Housing in America is Not Large Institutional Investors
“To preserve the supply of single-family homes for American families and increase the paths to homeownership,” President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20th, 2026, preventing “large institutional investors” from buying “single-family home[’s].” The definitions of “large institutional investor” and “single-family home” are to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, by February 19th. However, even with an expansive definition of what constitutes a “large institutional investor,” this executive order seems likely to fall short of its intended goal. Large institutional investors account for too small of a share of single-family homeowners in the United States for this executive order to have any significant impact on housing affordability. Instead, to support housing affordability President Trump’s administration should focus on loosening credit standards, incentivizing home builders, and adopting economic policies to curb inflation, which in turn will lead to mortgage rate reductions.