The Nevada Independent: Why Trump’s new plan to stop corporate homebuying resonates in Nevada
When President Donald Trump announced plans this month to stop corporate investors from buying up single-family homes, the populist proposal spooked many lawmakers of his own party. But for many Nevadans, especially Democrats, the idea was long overdue.
Trump furthered his promise this week with an executive order to keep the government from facilitating sales of single-family homes to large institutional investors. The order also provides for members of his administration to review rules related to corporate ownership, enforce antitrust laws against institutional investors and prepare legislative recommendations on the issue.
The policy is especially resonant in battleground Nevada. Recent polling showed that many residents consider housing affordability the most important issue facing the state, second only to the economy.
At the national level, members of both major parties have blamed institutional investors snapping up single-family homes for rising costs, and one 2025 survey found that 93 percent of Americans think corporate landlords are making homeownership less accessible.
According to the Government Accountability Office, these purchases have been concentrated in the Sunbelt. A new report suggests one-quarter of Nevada’s single-family houses are investor-owned.
State efforts to address the issue have failed repeatedly. In 2023, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) vetoed a bill to cap corporate ownership, then reportedly blocked a 2025 effort that would have imposed even stricter limits. A bill to limit corporate home purchases to 1,000 units in total died in the Legislature late last year after a bipartisan group of lawmakers added it to the special session agenda.
Whether the Trump administration’s plan would actually pay dividends for Nevadans is unclear. Brian P. Bonnenfant, project manager at UNR’s Center for Regional Studies, pointed out that the executive order does not specify a single-family corporate ownership threshold, that Nevada companies can create new limited liability companies to work around any such limits, and that the order could backfire by reducing investor demand for properties and lessen new construction.
Bonnenfant also argued that most of the institutional investment that was going to happen likely already happened.
“They’re really late to the party,” he said in an interview with The Indy. “When we are now in the area of 2 percent appreciation rates, it really doesn't make sense for corporate investment in single family homes.”
White House listening to Nevada congressional Dems
That isn’t stopping Nevada politicians from targeting corporate homebuyers at the federal level.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) seized on the president’s announcement by sending him a letter urging him to back their Housing Oversight and Mitigation Exploitation (HOME) Act. The bill would make it illegal to charge unreasonable prices for housing and empower the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to analyze data on institutional investors.
Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV), who represents the state’s most competitive district and has co-sponsored Rosen and Horsford’s bill, agreed.
“While the President’s decision to take action to protect families and expand access to homeownership is a step in the right direction, we must provide more than temporary assistance,” Lee wrote in a statement to The Indy. “Congress must pass the HOME Act to go after more of these Big Corporate Landlords so we can lower costs and protect our families, seniors, and veterans from predatory practices.”
Corporate landlords are easy bogeymen for leaders across the political spectrum, but the path forward on affordable housing in Nevada is complex. Bonnenfant stressed that a lack of supply is a key part of the problem and members of both parties have previously stressed the importance of unlocking federal land for development.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates side with Trump
Outside of federal elections, Trump’s new proposal could also influence the state’s most competitive race: the fight for the governor’s mansion.
“The President’s Executive Order will have to be reviewed in further detail, but I believe any work to limit corporate homeownership is a step in the right direction towards making housing more affordable in Nevada,” Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), who is widely considered the front-runner for his party’s nomination, wrote in a statement to The Indy. “While Governor Joe Lombardo has repeatedly blocked efforts to do this legislatively, the President and I agree that Nevadans live in homes, not corporations, and my Affordable Nevada housing plan is centered around limiting corporate homeownership.”
The governor said in a statement this month that he has been developing a working group to address the issue at the state level. Lombardo spokesperson Elizabeth Ray has told The Indy that the governor supports Trump’s efforts.
The president has given the Treasury secretary 30 days to develop definitions to help implement the order. But while there are still many blanks to fill in, ordinary voters likely aren’t too hung up on the details.