Trump plan to bar institutional investors from homebuying faces free-market skepticism

Published January 9, 2026 5:00am ET



President Donald Trump‘s plan to ban institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes faces skepticism from many in the industry and among free-market economists.

Trump announced the policy change in a surprise announcement on Wednesday. Proponents of banning firms like Blackstone from buying single-family homes, many of whom are on the Left and populist Right, argue that those investors are crowding out the market for homebuyers. Others in the housing space, though, say that is not the case and that the policy could backfire by making housing more expensive for some.

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