President Donald Trump wrote last week that he’d be using his address at the World Economic Forum to talk about affordability and his proposed plans for housing including banning large institutional investors from purchasing more single-family homes. Cato scholar Stephen Slivinski offered this statement ahead of President Trump’s key address:

“The policy suggestions over the past two weeks by President Trump and today by Secretary Bessent would do virtually nothing to help first-time homebuyers and would actually make things worse for renters in the near-term who have decided they don’t want buy a home now for various reasons. Secretary Bessent suggests they just want to “push out” big institutional investors. But this won’t make much of a real difference: a vast majority of these investors are mom-and-pop businesses who provide a significant share of rental properties in many areas of the country. This would only decrease choices for renters, many of whom need as many affordable options as they can find. 

“Pushing out any type of institutional investor would be bad federal policy. The federal government really shouldn’t be in the business of telling current homeowners who they can and cannot sell their homes to. A ban on investor homebuying may not have much of an impact now, but when the economy dips there may be much bigger unintended consequences. Sure, you might finally be free of cold-call solicitations to buy your house now, but what happens in the future when you actually want to get those calls?”

To speak with Slivinski, please feel free to contact Emily at esalamon@​cato.​org