President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to prohibit corporate investors from purchasing homes could have significant implications for Florida, where institutional landlords have acquired a large share of single-family rental properties in recent years.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, any move to restrict institutional ownership is expected to encounter strong resistance from both Wall Street and the real estate sector. Global asset managers, private equity firms, and real estate investment trusts collectively control tens of billions of dollars’ worth of residential real estate across Florida. Their presence grew rapidly during the pandemic as these investors targeted Sun Belt markets experiencing population growth.
Estimates suggest that corporate entities now own between 20 and 25 percent of Florida’s single-family rental homes. This trend has led to criticism from prospective homeowners and some politicians who argue that institutional landlords are making it harder for individuals to buy homes by reducing the number available for sale.
Trump has not yet provided specific details on how such a ban would be implemented. His statements represent his first major engagement with the issue of housing affordability, and he is expected to elaborate on his proposal at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Switzerland later this month.
Florida remains a lucrative market for large-scale rental operators. Invitation Homes, which manages nearly 27,000 homes statewide valued at $4.2 billion, reported $556 million in revenue from its Florida properties in the first nine months of last year. American Homes 4 Rent owns almost 8,700 single-family properties in Florida valued at about $2.1 billion. Other companies such as Progress Residential, Tricon Residential, and FirstKey Homes also hold substantial portfolios in the state, though their exact numbers are less clear. One estimate puts the total number of single-family homes owned by corporate investors in Florida at approximately 117,000 as of late 2024.
Smaller firms have also entered this market segment; Tampa-based Second Avenue raised $250 million in 2022 after establishing its single-family rental platform over several years.
Some economists question whether banning institutional investors would significantly affect housing affordability or supply. Jeff Korzenik, chief economist at Fifth Third Bank, told the outlet: “Institutional investors own about 20 percent of the single-family rental market nationally, so it’s not a big part of the housing stock,” adding: “The reality is that affordability comes down to supply, and who owns that supply is a less important factor.”
