Trump Announces Big Move on Affordable Housing

President Trump is targeting Wall Street in a push for affordable housing. In a Truth Social post Wednesday, Trump said the federal government should block large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes, arguing that corporate landlords are making it harder for Americans, especially younger buyers, to enter the housing market, CNBC reports.

• "I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it," Trump wrote. "People live in homes, not corporations."

"For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream," but it's now out of reach for "far too many people," Trump wrote. He linked the problem to what he called "record high inflation" during the Biden administration. His statement comes amid ongoing concern over the role of private equity firms and other large investors in snapping up houses in some markets, a trend critics say contributes to tight supply and higher prices.

It's not clear whether the president will be able to enact the ban if he fails to win congressional approval, the Wall Street Journal reports. Congressional Democrats introduced similar proposals last year. Bloomberg reports that shares in Blackstone, a major investor in residential real estate, dropped sharply after Trump's statement.