New executive orders about homeownership, the housing market, and residential development

President Trump has issued 256 executive orders so far in his current term, with more than 30 since our last big recap in October. Trump has zeroed in on homeownership, the housing market, and residential development with three executive orders in recent months.

Wall Street investors crowding out families seeking to buy homes

One aims to prevent “large institutional investors” from buying “single-family homes” but tasks the Treasury Department with determining the definitions for those two phrases. Since 2008, the number of single-family homes owned by large corporations and leased for rent has ballooned. Institutional investors began buying foreclosed properties and renting them out. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that before 2011 an investor owning more than 1000 single family properties was virtually unheard of, but in 2022 there were 32 investors who owned more than 1000 single family properties with 450,000 homes in total. This is only about three percent of the national market, but tends to be concentrated in densely populated areas. The Executive Order calls for narrow exceptions for build-to-rent homes, a model which many large institutional investors like American Homes 4 Rent and Invitation Homes have pivoted towards in the last couple of years.