Trump signs order blocking Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order of significance on Tuesday, blocking Wall Street-backed investors from purchasing single-family homes.

Trump contends that Wall Street investors' purchasing of single-family homes has priced many American families out of homeownership and is turning neighbourhoods into corporate assets rather than places to live.

The order directs multiple federal agencies to restrain federal support for such purchases and urges the Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enhance antitrust scrutiny of large institutional investors in the housing sector.

Why is Trump blocking Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes?

"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," Trump stated in the order. He added that this dream has become hard-to-bring-about for many Americans, particularly first-time homebuyers.

Individual buyers struggle to compete with institutional capital, the US president asserted. "Hardworking young families cannot effectively compete for starter homes with Wall Street firms and their vast resources."

"Neighborhoods once controlled by middle-class American families are now run by distant corporate interests," he noted.

The executive order in this regard outlines that it is the policy of the Trump administration that "large institutional investors should not buy single-family homes that could otherwise be purchased by families."

US federal agencies have been instructed to issue guidelines within 60 days to prevent federal support for such purchases.

Trump also ordered a review of large-scale purchases of single-family homes for potential anti-competitive effects and directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to require landlords in federal housing assistance programmes to disclose ownership data. The order also allows for exceptions for build-to-rent communities that are legitimately developed.

Trump views the order as both an economic and moral issue, underscoring his administration's commitment to empowering American families to own their homes.