President Donald Trump says he wants to block large institutional investors from buying houses, saying that a ban would make it easier for younger families to buy their first homes
ByJOSH BOAK Associated Press
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he wants to block large institutional investors from buying houses, saying that a ban would make it easier for younger families to buy their first homes.
Trump — who has been under pressure to address voters’ concerns about affordability ahead of November midterm elections — is tapping into long-standing fears that corporate ownership of homes has pushed out traditional buyers, forcing more people to rent. But his plan does little to address the overarching challenge for the housing market: a national shortage of home construction and prices that have climbed faster than incomes.
“People live in homes, not corporations,” Trump said in a social media post as he called on Congress to codify his ban.
Last month, Trump pledged in a prime-time address that he would roll out “some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history” this year. The president said he would discuss housing and affordability in more detail in two weeks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an event known for attracting CEOs, wealthy financiers and academics with a global focus who often run contrary to Trump’s populist rhetoric.
The president has in the past floated extending the 30-year mortgage to 50 years in order to