Last month, the Trump Administration released a new Executive Order (EO) taking aim at institutional investors (particularly private equity firms) that have acquired large portfolios of single-family homes as rental properties.
Trump’s EO is directed toward the limited policy goal of preventing large investment funds from leveraging their institutional purchasing advantages to outbid individual home buyers for existing single-family homes (SFHs) and turning them into rental properties, thereby driving up prices and reducing the supply of homes available to individual home buyers.
However, while the EO might help home buyers in SFH markets in cities in which institutional investors have focused their small-purchase acquisition of individual single-family rentals (SFRs) by reducing what many might righteously deem unfair competition from Wall Steet investors, the EO’s overall impact on the SFR market, and housing affordability in general, will likely be negligible.
Following the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, institutional investment in SFRs ballooned.[1] According to a report by the US Government Accountability Office (GOA), prior to 2011 no single investor owned more than 1,000 SFRs; by 2022, 32 institutional investors collectively owned around 450,000 SFRs (although this still constitutes only a small portion of the total SFR market).
This increase was the result of, among other things, the large supply of foreclosed homes following the financial crisis, growing renter demand following the crisis, and federal government programs to encourage institutional acquisitions of portfolios of SFHs for the rental market.[2] These acquisitions of large portfolios of foreclosed SFHs were encouraged as a means to stabilize the housing market.
Institutional investors’ access to private equity and government-backed credit—and their ability to leverage funding sources—enabled them to purchase these large portfolios while mortgage lenders were reducing lending to individual home buyers.
Institutional investors also enjoyed tax advantages and management efficiencies of scale that made their SFR investments more profitable. As home foreclosures slowed, investors moved into small-scale purchase of SFHs in the general housing market.
Institutional investors have had the means to invest funds for improvements in the SFHs they’ve acquired which has allowed them to demand higher rents. Research organization Urban Institute estimates that institutional investors generally invest $20K-$40K in repairs per home.[3]
Thus, institutional investors’ investments in the SFR market arguably improved the rental housing stock while also raising rents. In contrast, small investors in SFRs may lack the funds to invest in improvements, thereby maintaining lower quality rental stock while also maintaining lower rents.
Large institutional investors (historically deemed those with portfolios of more than 1,000 SFRs) have focused on housing markets in cities in the southeastern U.S. such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Jacksonville, as well as other Sun Belt cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Thus, while the overall percentage of SFRs owned by institutional investors nationwide remains small (around 2%), institutional holdings of SFRs comprise substantially large shares of SFR markets in which their holdings are concentrated—large enough to have a potentially discernable impact on the supply and prices of housing in such markets.[4]
On January 20, 2026, Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers.”[5] In the EO, Trump asserts that purchases of SFHs by “large Wall Street investors” in certain communities are “crowding out families seeking to buy homes.”
The EO would help rectify this issue mainly by prohibiting large investors from using government loan programs to acquire SFHs or acquiring them from government entities. The main provisions of the order stipulate that:
On January 21, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump remarked that Wall Street giants and institutional investment firms had “driven up housing prices by purchasing hundreds of thousands of single-family homes.” He continued by saying, “But homes are built for people, not for corporations, and America will not become a nation of renters.”[6]
Although the Treasury Secretary has yet to publish definitions as directed in the EO, the White House has recently proposed including investors with more than 100 SFHs in the definition of “Large Institutional Investor.” The White House’s proposal would exempt purchases of most BTR homes and “renovate to rent” homes undergoing structural or other substantial renovation for the purpose of renting them out.[7]
While the EO’s policy goals could conceivably reduce, at least marginally, competition for existing SFHs in those markets in which large investors have focused their acquisitions, it appears unlikely that it will have significant impact on institutional investment in the SFR market. Nor is it likely to minimize the share of the nation’s SFHs held as rental properties overall or improve overall affordability for home buyers.
There are several reasons for this. More than 95% of SFRs are held by small investors owning ten or fewer properties who are outside the scope of the EO.[8] Additionally, the EO does not restrict SFR purchases using cash or otherwise not using government loan programs.
The EO does not seek divestiture of current SFR holdings and explicitly carves out BTR homes constructed as rental communities, to which institutional investors in the SFR market are already shifting their investments. (There is disagreement over whether BTR promotes SFH supply by increasing housing supply—attractive BTR housing presumably lessens demand from home purchasers.)
Despite popular support and bipartisan support voiced in Congress for the concept of limiting institutional ownership of SFHs, the Trump Administration’s efforts to implement the EO’s policies through legislation have faced push-back from investor-friendly members of Congress.[9] As the House and Senate work to approve a package addressing the housing affordability crisis, the Trump Administration is vying for limits on institutional investors to be part of that package—despite lukewarm reception from various Republican allies.
On February 9, the House passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act with substantial bipartisan support, which aims to streamline regulatory barriers to housing construction and modernize federal housing programs, but it does not implement the limitations on institutional investors sought by Trump.
On February 24, Senate Democrats introduced The American Homeownership Act, which would restrict institutional purchases of SFHs by ending or reforming federal tax incentives and subsidies that encourage SFR investment. The bill targets investment funds and corporate entities owning more than 50 SFRs and includes exemptions for BTR homes and homes undergoing substantial rehabilitation for the purposes of renting them out.[10]
It is anticipated that both bills will be harmonized into one bill, which may provide more opportunity for implantation of the policy goals in Trump’s EO.
If you have further questions regarding private equity or institutional investors in the housing industry, please contact Randall Rasey.
[1] Institutional investment in SFRs includes acquisition of existing houses for rental purposes as well as newly constructed housing, often in planned rental communities, known as build-to-rent (BTR).
[2] “Information on Institutional Investment in Single-Family Homes.” U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). (May 2024).
[3] “Will Regulating Large Institutional Investors Actually Make Housing More Affordable?” Urban Institute. (Jan. 26, 2026).
[4] “GAO Releases Report on Institutional Investments in Single-Family Rental Housing.” National Low Income Housing Coalition. (May 28, 2024).
[5] “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers.” EO 14376. (Jan. 20,2026).
[6] “Davos 2026: Special Address by Donald J Trump, President of the United States of America.” World Economic Forum. (Jan. 21, 2026).
[7]Institutional Investor DRAFT.
[8]“Trump signs executive order to block large investors from single-family home market.” Scotsman Guide. (Jan. 21, 2026).
[9] “Congressional housing deal faces new hurdle as Trump pushes investor ban.” Politico. (Feb. 13, 2026).
[10] “Senate Democrats Introduce The American Homeownership Act To Stop Wall Street’s Housing Grab and Get Homes Back into the Hands of Families.” US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (Feb. 24, 2026.)
Randall L. Rasey