Donald Trump just declared war on Wall Street investors, and the one thing they cannot buy anymore will shock the entire housing market

President Trump just signed a massive executive order banning Wall Street investors from buying and owning single-family homes, as reported by The Hill. This is a decisive move that could seriously shake up the housing market and empower first-time homebuyers.

For years, we’ve watched huge real estate trusts and private equity firms treat homes less like places where families live and more like abstract stock assets. These corporations have collected a considerable number of single-family homes, often using them solely for rent, which totally destabilizes the ability of average families to compete in the homebuying market.

According to the order, “Buying and owning a home has long been considered the pinnacle of the American dream and a way for families to invest and build lifetime wealth.” However, he attributed the current crisis to “recent high inflation and interest rates caused by the previous administration,” noting that the dream of ownership is now “increasingly out of reach for too many of our citizens, especially first-time homebuyers.”

The president made it clear that this action is focused squarely on restoring the “American dream”

President Trump is specifically targeting these “large” Wall Street investors who have bought a “growing share of single-family homes,” creating unfair competition with “hardworking young families.” He emphasized that the situation had reached a critical point where “Neighborhoods and communities once controlled by middle-class American families are now run by faraway corporate interests.”

He then stated the core philosophy: “People live in homes, not corporations. My Administration will take decisive action to stop Wall Street from treating America’s neighborhoods like a trading floor and empower American families to own their homes.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been given 30 days to develop clear “definitions of ‘large institutional investor’ and ‘single-family home.’” Once those parameters are established, Cabinet members will issue guidance to federal agencies. This guidance will prevent federal bodies from “providing for, approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating the acquisition by large institutional investors” of a single-family home.

This order also brings in the heavy hitters for enforcement. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson will review substantial acquisitions made by heavy investors. The order specifically tasks them to prioritize antitrust enforcement against “coordinated vacancy and pricing strategies by large institutional investors in local single-family home rental markets.” Meaning, if a firm is keeping homes empty just to manipulate local rents or prices, they’ll face some serious scrutiny.

You might remember that this move has been brewing for a while. President Trump had called for this ban earlier this month, writing on Truth Social that he was “taking steps” to implement it and would be “calling on Congress to codify it.”

The entire affordability push is a key strategy for the president and Republicans in Congress ahead of the midterms. They want to tell voters that inflation has fallen and prices have improved. Unfortunately, Americans largely don’t believe conditions have improved yet. President Trump even acknowledged this difficulty selling his economic achievements recently, suggesting that the administration might have “bad public relations people” trying to get the message out.

Regardless of the political spin, this ban on corporate home buying is a massive win for anyone hoping to buy their first home.