1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to prioritize housing supply solutions while also supporting the proposed ban on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes. While I recognize that institutional ownership represents a relatively small portion of the market, between 1 to 3 percent of homes purchased in 2025 according to Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com, addressing this issue alongside supply constraints sends an important signal about housing policy priorities. The fundamental problem remains clear: America needs approximately 4 million more homes to return housing to affordable levels, according to Goldman Sachs Research. The median home price has climbed to about $410,000, up nearly 30 percent since 2020, driven by chronic supply shortage. Between 2012 and 2019, institutional investors purchased 240,000 single-family homes according to the Brookings Institution, and while this represents a fraction of the market, preventing further institutional accumulation protects homeownership opportunities for families. However, banning institutional investors alone will not solve the affordability crisis. President Trump's proposed mortgage bond purchase program, which would buy $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, similarly fails to address supply. Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, called this approach "putting a Band-Aid on a deeper issue" that probably would not lower rates enough to undo the mortgage rate lock-in effect. I urge you to champion both the institutional investor ban and federal incentives for state and local governments to increase housing supply. This means creating standardization and guidelines for streamlining permitting processes and increasing zoning capacity to allow denser housing construction. Even in Sun Belt cities like Atlanta, where institutional ownership reaches 25 percent of rentals, inventory is rising and keeping prices in check because supply is being addressed. Your constituents need comprehensive solutions that combine protecting homeownership opportunities with actually building the homes we desperately need.