Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) are teaming up on bipartisan legislation to bar large Wall Street firms from purchasing single-family homes, as President Donald Trump presses Congress to make his recent executive action on the issue permanent.
On Thursday, Hawley and Merkley announced the Homes for American Families Act, which would prohibit large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, townhouses, and condominiums nationwide. The proposal targets hedge funds, private equity firms, and other major corporate investors that have significantly increased their presence in residential real estate markets over the past decade.
“Wall Street has exploited the American housing crisis, turning the nation’s housing stock into a portfolio of rental properties,” Hawley said in a statement. “Families deserve to be able to buy their own homes and achieve the American dream without competing with big investment companies that irrevocably drive up housing prices. That’s why I am introducing legislation to ban Wall Street from buying single family homes once and for all.”
Merkley echoed that sentiment, framing the issue as one of fairness and affordability. “Houses in our communities should be homes for families, not profit centers for hedge funds,” he said. “As corporate investors invade the housing market nationwide, we need action to protect hardworking Americans achieving the dream of homeownership.”
In addition to the new bill, the senators updated their previously introduced HOPE for Homeownership Act, which would create incentives for large investors to divest their existing holdings of single-family homes. Lawmakers argue that reducing corporate ownership would increase supply for prospective buyers and ease upward pressure on prices.
The legislative push follows Trump’s recent executive order barring large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. During his State of the Union address this week, Trump urged Congress to codify the order into federal law.
“Another pillar of the American dream that has been under attack has been home ownership,” Trump said, recounting the story of a Houston mother who lost bids on 20 homes to investment firms that paid cash and waived inspections. “Homes for people — that’s what we want. We want homes for people, not for corporations. Corporations are doing just fine.”
The call drew applause from Republicans and several Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), reflecting rare bipartisan alignment on concerns about corporate consolidation in the housing market.
Supporters of the legislation argue that large-scale investor purchases have made it harder for first-time buyers to compete, particularly in fast-growing metropolitan areas where firms can outbid families with cash offers. Critics, however, are expected to raise questions about federal authority over housing markets and the potential impact on rental supply.
With Trump publicly backing a statutory ban and bipartisan sponsors in the Senate, the issue is poised to become central in the broader debate over housing affordability and the future of the American dream.
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People buy single-family homes. People making the purchase live in those single-family homes. They are motivated to keep the single-family home in good shape, as it is considered a long-term investment they can manage and prosper from — as a family unit.
Make the conditions of single-family home ownership fit the historical, community benefitting, and society conservation norm — you need to live in the single-family house you purchased.
There are many, many other real estate unit configurations one can buy and own and not reside in the dwelling unit. Leave those to the venture capitalists.