Business
Big investors have been fleeing for-sale housing market, even before Trump ordered ban
In an aerial view, two-story single family homes line the streets on Jan. 14, 2026 in Thousand Oaks, California.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
Legislation to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes to rent is making its way through Congress, but many of them are already selling thousands of homes — and have been for two years.
Research from housing data and analytics firm Parcl Labs shows that the largest investors are now net sellers of homes.
In every major metropolitan housing market, investors make up a larger share of for-sale listings than they do of the total housing stock. In some cities, like Dallas, Philadelphia and Houston, they are selling most aggressively. Dallas investors own 9.2% of the housing stock but account for 22.8% of new for-sale listings.
FirstKey Homes appears to be most motivated, with more than twice the listings of its peers, according to Parcl. It is also offering much deeper price cuts, an average 10% off original list prices, and is reducing prices about every 20 days.
“It’s a volatile housing market, and folks are trying to take risk off the table,” said Jason Lewris, co-founder of Parcl Labs. He noted that rents are not holding up relative to what investors can get if they sell.
“So it’s better risk-adjusted returns to just get that cash and see how things pan out,” he said.
In its latest quarterly earnings release for the fourth quarter of 2025, Invitation Homes, one of the largest publicly traded landlords, reported that all 368 of its wholly owned acquisitions were newly constructed homes purchased from various homebuilders. It reported selling 315 existing homes.
For the full-year 2025, Invitation reported “almost all” of its 2,410 wholly owned acquisitions were bought through homebuilder relationships, while it sold 1,356 wholly owned homes, “frequently to families purchasing for their own use.”
In an effort to make housing affordable, in late January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at restricting large, institutional investors from buying single-family homes to use as rentals. He put an exemption on purchasing new construction specifically built as rentals.
The White House later sent proposed legislation to Congress, saying investors owning more than 100 single-family homes would be banned from buying any more, but didn’t have to sell what they have. Senate and House bills have different volume thresholds for what constitutes large investors, but they are not far apart.
To put this in perspective, single-family rentals make up roughly 10% of U.S. housing stock, and the vast majority, 80%, are owned by so-called mom-and-pop operators, with fewer than 10 homes each, according to analysis from Bank of America. Smaller investors, those who own between 10 and 1,000 homes, make up 17% of landlords. Large institutional investors who own more than 1,000 homes make up just 3% of the single-family rental market.
The numbers, however, are coming down.
Investors initially flooded the market after the subprime mortgage crash that led to the Great Recession. Home prices in some markets dropped by half, and foreclosures soared. Investors bought the homes at bargain prices and turned them into lucrative rentals.
As the markets recovered, there were fewer entry-level homes for sale to owner-occupants, because investors focused on that segment. In some cities, like Atlanta, regular buyers couldn’t compete with investors, who usually came carrying cash. Some neighborhoods are nearly fully investor owned.
But by 2022, even before Trump took office for the second time, investors were already in retreat, buying fewer homes, according to Parcl. Selling accelerated in late 2024, with investors in Atlanta now selling nearly two properties for every one they buy.
The next frontier
Investors are now pivoting to build-for-rent.
Much of the net selling shift over the past few years was a natural process of recycling capital, according to Rick Palacios, director of research at John Burns Research and Consulting.
“Home prices ran up post-2020, and many single-family rental investors sold assets into a rising home price backdrop, then redeployed capital into higher-yielding build-to-rent versus buying on resale at those very high prices and elevated borrowing costs for investors, too,” Palacios said.
Builders also adjust their prices in real time, he noted, while resale sellers don’t.
“This offered opportunities for investors to purchase at discounts from builders,” he added.
Invitation Homes has been buying homes from builders like Lennar but, in January, announced it had acquired Atlanta-based ResiBuilt Homes, a build-to-rent developer in high-growth markets across the Southeast. ResiBuilt was delivering about 1,000 homes per year, but Invitation Homes expects to expand that.
“One of the most constructive ways we can help is by adding more homes to the markets we serve,” said Dallas Tanner, CEO of Invitation Homes, on an earnings call last month with analysts. “While our home-builder partnerships have supported that effort for years, our acquisition of ResiBuilt expands it even further and improves our control over cost, product quality and delivery pace.”
AMH, formerly known as American Homes 4 Rent, meanwhile, has been building entire rental communities itself for several years. In its latest fourth-quarter earnings release, CEO Bryan Smith said, “Since the inception of our ground up development program, we have contributed over 14,000 newly built homes to the nation’s housing stock. Our results in 2025 and outlook for 2026 reflect continued focus on expanding the nation’s housing supply, elevating the resident experience, and creating value for all our stakeholders.”
The UK must not “cut ourselves off” from trade opportunities in China despite security and business risks, the head of the Confederation for British Industry has warned.
CBI chief Rain Newton-Smith highlighted that British businesses see increased trade with Chinese firms as an opportunity to drive growth.
Her remarks came as business leaders were questioned by MPs on Parliament’s Business and Trade Select Committee regarding the UK’s economic relationship with China.
Last December, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer admitted China poses security threats to the UK but urged for greater business ties.
Ms Newton-Smith, chief executive of one of the UK’s largest business groups, was positive about the Government’s engagement with China.
“You can’t have a growth strategy without a strategy for China,” she said.
“China has the biggest contribution to global growth, is the third largest trading partner, and the world’s largest consumer market.
“The UK is second largest exporter of trade and services.
“We are mindful as all businesses are of security risks but it is really important that we have a strategy towards China.
“This Government has increased the economic engagement with China and including business within this does help us as a country.”
She added: “If we think about the future economy, there is a huge market in China and I think we mustn’t cut ourselves off from some of the opportunities there, even if in some areas there are difficult conversations and negotiations that need to be had.”
Peter Burnett, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council, told the committee: “There are risks associated with technology advancement, AI, industrial development that they need to assess.
“Increasingly you will find them saying that they need to engage more in China to understand those risks and to develop some of the technologies along some of those risks themselves.”
The consultancy Teneo says airspace restrictions caused by the conflict have forced airlines to reroute many flights.
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Us-India Trade Talks: US–India trade deal: Where do talks stand & what to expect – explained – The Times of India
Fresh negotiations between India and the United States are underway in Washington, DC this week, with officials indicating that a long-running effort to seal a bilateral trade agreement is nearing completion.A senior US official, responding to queries on the progress of the talks, said, “The Trump administration and India continue to have positive and productive discussions towards a finalised trade deal.” The negotiations come as Indian representatives visit the American capital for discussions scheduled from April 20 to 22, marking a renewed push to conclude the first phase of the agreement.People familiar with the matter suggested that only a handful of issues remain unresolved. “Most of it is almost done,” one official said on condition of anonymity, adding, “There aren’t many loose ends left.” The current round is expected to concentrate on closing these remaining gaps, with much of the agreement already worked out.The Indian side is being led by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, accompanied by officials from the customs department and the ministry of external affairs. On the US side, Brendan Lynch, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, is heading the negotiations under the Office of the US Trade Representative.The timing of the talks follows recent developments in the US tariff structure. After the US Supreme Court struck down reciprocal tariffs imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the US administration introduced a temporary flat 10% tariff on all countries for 150 days starting February 24. These changes had earlier delayed a planned February meeting between the chief negotiators, with discussions now resuming under the revised framework.In addition to tariff-related matters, negotiators are also expected to address two Section 301 investigations initiated by the US Trade Representative. India has contested these probes, seeking their withdrawal and arguing that the notices lack adequate justification.The ongoing discussions build on a framework for an interim agreement announced on February 7, which outlined reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade measures. The framework reaffirmed a commitment to broader bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations launched by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, aimed at enhancing market access.US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor described the visit of the Indian delegation as a significant step towards finalising the deal. In a post on X, he said, “The Indian trade delegation will be arriving in Washington this week. A great step to finalise our bilateral trade deal. A win-win for both nations!”Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also indicated that the first tranche of the agreement is close to completion. “We have almost finalised our free trade agreement, the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement with them. We are trying to close the Ts and dots on that and work out what would be the mechanism by which India can get a preferential access, market access in the US market compared to our competitors,” he said at the India-Korea Business Forum in New Delhi.He added, “We have almost finalised the first tranche of bilateral trade agreement with them… We are trying to work out what would be the mechanism on which India would get a preferential access in the US market compared to our competitors. The team will be discussing this while they are in Washington.”With senior officials from both sides now engaged in discussions and most substantive issues already settled, expectations are building that an announcement on the proposed agreement could follow soon.
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