TL;DR
A new bipartisan Senate bill would bar large investment funds from buying single-family homes, aiming to ease competition for buyers in an already strained housing market.
Why This Matters
For many households, especially first-time buyers, the housing market has become a source of anxiety rather than security. Home prices and mortgage rates have climbed in recent years, while supply has lagged. Researchers at the Federal Reserve have estimated buyers now need to earn roughly 43% more than the median worker to afford a typical home, underscoring how far ownership has drifted out of reach.
The latest update in this debate is a bipartisan push to limit large investors’ role in the single-family market. While institutional investors still own a relatively small share of all single-family rentals nationwide, their concentration in certain metro areas has fueled concerns that families are bidding not only against each other, but also against deep-pocketed corporations. That tension matters well beyond hot markets like Atlanta or Charlotte. It touches retirement plans invested in real estate funds, the stability of local neighborhoods, and how policymakers choose between boosting homebuilding, restraining investors, or both as they tackle America’s housing shortage.
Key Facts & Quotes
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon are introducing the Homes for American Families Act, a bipartisan bill that targets large investment firms buying single-family homes. The proposal would amend the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act to prohibit investment funds with more than $150 million in assets from purchasing single-family houses, condominiums, or townhouses. Homebuilders putting up properties to sell would be exempt, and enforcement would fall to the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
“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,” Hawley said in a statement, adding that his goal is to “ban Wall Street from buying single-family homes once and for all.” Merkley said corporate investors are “invad[ing] the housing market nationwide,” and argued, “Now with bipartisan support, we have wind in our sails to finally crack down on billionaire corporations gobbling up American homes.”
The bill follows a recent executive order from President Donald Trump directing federal agencies to avoid approving or facilitating most single-family sales to large institutional investors. In his State of the Union address, Trump urged Congress to make that step permanent, highlighting a mother of two, Raysall Wiggins, who he said lost bids on 20 homes to all-cash investment firms. Separate legislation from Merkley and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren would curb tax breaks for landlords owning 50 or more homes by limiting depreciation and mortgage-interest deductions for those properties.
What It Means for You
For individual buyers, the latest update from Washington is more of a signal than an immediate change. The Hawley-Merkley bill would need to pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law before any limits on investor purchases take effect. Even then, regulators would have to spell out how the rules apply to different types of funds and ownership structures.
If enacted, the law could reduce competition from large investors for entry-level houses in certain markets, potentially easing bidding wars for some buyers. But it could also affect the supply and pricing of rental homes if big landlords slow purchases or sell parts of their portfolios. Older homeowners might see shifts in who bids on their properties, while renters could face changes in who manages their neighborhoods. Housing analysts note that any investor limits would sit alongside, not replace, broader efforts to build more homes and update local zoning rules.
How do you think policymakers should balance encouraging new homebuilding with restricting large investors’ role in local housing markets?
Sources: Federal Reserve housing affordability estimates (2023); Urban Institute single-family rental ownership analysis (2023); Goldman Sachs U.S. housing supply research (2023); public statements from Sens. Josh Hawley, Jeff Merkley, and the White House (2025).
