Trump and Newsom Target Wall Street Homebuyers as Indiana City Caps Investor Rentals
NPR reports that President Donald Trump has proposed banning large institutional investors from buying additional single-family homes, framing it as a way to ease housing costs for families locked out of ownership during the investor-driven buying surge of the past several years. The piece details how Fishers, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, just implemented a first‑in‑the‑nation ordinance capping rentals at 10% of homes in each neighborhood after city data showed some subdivisions where 35–38% of houses were owned by investors, often out‑of‑state corporations. Republican Mayor Scott Fadness says investor dominance was squeezing would‑be owner‑occupants, prompting tactics like city employees begging sellers not to accept all‑cash investor offers, and that distant corporate ownership made code enforcement and neighborhood issues harder to manage. Realtor and business groups fought the cap as an infringement on property rights and seller choice, but the council passed it unanimously, and the law took effect Jan. 1, 2026. The story also notes that California Gov. Gavin Newsom has joined Trump in vowing to act against Wall Street‑backed landlords, even as housing economists caution that institutional investors are only one driver of high prices and that constraining them alone won’t fix a national shortage of homes.
📌 Key Facts
- President Trump recently said on social media he wants to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes to lower housing costs.
- Fishers, Indiana enacted an ordinance, effective Jan. 1, 2026, capping rentals at 10% of homes in each neighborhood after internal data showed investor ownership as high as 35–38% in some areas.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom has publicly aligned with Trump in pledging to curb large institutional buying of houses, while realtor groups argue such caps violate property rights and economists say institutional investors are not the sole cause of high prices.
📊 Relevant Data
Institutional investors own only about 2% of all single-family homes in the United States as of 2025.
What percentage of single-family homes in the U.S. are owned by institutional investors? — Blue Vault Partners
Evidence from studies indicates that institutional investors in housing rarely displace individuals from the housing market or significantly increase prices.
Institutional investors are not making housing more expensive — Reason.org
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the homeownership rate was 73.8% for non-Hispanic White Americans, 63% for Asian Americans, 51% for Hispanic Americans, and 44.1% for Black Americans.
Homeownership Rates by Race and Ethnicity — Eye On Housing
In 2024, mortgage denial rates were 19% for Black applicants, 17% for Hispanic applicants, 11% for White applicants, and 9% for Asian applicants in the United States.
Black Homeownership Rate Sees Largest Annual Increase Among Racial Groups But Still Trails White Homeownership Rate — National Association of Realtors
Immigration has contributed to increased housing demand in the US, but after the surge in immigration starting in 2022, growth rates of house prices and rents slowed substantially by 2023.
The Role of the Recent Immigrant Surge in Housing Costs — Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
The US housing shortage is primarily driven by underproduction, with a cumulative deficit of millions of units due to zoning restrictions, rising materials costs, and labor shortages, rather than investor purchases alone.
Why Is There A Housing Shortage In The U.S.? — Bankrate
Fishers, Indiana, experienced population growth from about 93,000 in 2020 to over 100,000 by 2025, driven in part by in-migration, contributing to housing demand in the area.
Fishers, IN Housing Market: 2026 Home Prices & Trends — Zillow
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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