Homes Are for People, Not Private Equity
The housing crisis in the US while complex, is manmade and fixable. Amid the steps to addressing the issue between wages, interest rates, and other challenges is new Wall Street investment move into residential property. Homeownership is supposed to be the backbone of the American Dream: stability, roots, and a chance to build wealth over time. Yet that promise is being eroded by a housing market that increasingly treats single-family homes like financial assets to acquire in bulk, monetize through rent, and flip for returns instead of places where families live. The result is predictable: fewer starter homes available to buy, more competition from cash-heavy investors, rising rents, and neighborhoods that feel less like communities and more like portfolios. Private Equity (P/E) has no shame, no morals, no ethical fiber in their existence.
The long-term numbers show why people are furious. The U.S. Census shows the median home value in 1950 was $7,354. In 2024, typical national home prices were around the low $400,000s (with the median existing-home price hitting a record $407,500; and the median new-home price around $420,800 in early 2024). That’s the kind of jump that breaks the ladder for young families—especially when wages and household finances haven’t kept pace. For context, the 1950 Census estimated average family income at about $3,300. If incomes had risen at anything like the same pace as home prices, the “normal” family income today would be well into six figures (~$168,000/yr.). Instead, families are asked to absorb higher prices, higher interest rates, and rising rents all at once. Sources: Census PBS Census.gov
This isn’t just a national story. Here in Charlotte, a recent report highlighted that national corporations own about 18% of single-family rental homes, placing Charlotte among the highest of large U.S. cities studied. Other local analysis using Mecklenburg County tax assessment data shows corporate ownership of single-family homes rising sharply over time, illustrating how rapidly this model has spread and how concentrated it can become in fast-growing metros. When a growing slice of housing is controlled by firms whose business model depends on extracting rent and fees, regular buyers are forced to bid against Wall Street not their neighbors. https://www.wbtv.com Charlotte Urban Institute
Let’s be clear about what this is and what it isn’t. The housing crisis has multiple causes, and we must also increase supply and affordability. But corporate consolidation makes the crisis worse in the places it targets: investors can buy with cash, buy in bulk, centralize pricing, and standardize fees. The federal government is already warning about the growth of investor ownership in single-family rentals since the financial crisis and the concerns it raises for affordability and renters. We need more checks on corporate power such as the FTC’s 2024 action requiring Invitation Homes to pay $48 million and stop certain deceptive and unfair practices. Government Accountability Office Federal Trade Commission
How much does private equity actually own? Nationally, the largest institutional investors do not own the majority of U.S. homes but their impact can be outsized in specific metro areas and price tiers. Recent analysis notes that large institutional investors (often defined as owning 100+ homes) own about 3% of single-family rental stock nationwide, with much higher shares around 12% to 20% in the metros where they are most concentrated. While the national percentage looks small, the local damage can be significant, consider Charlotte’s high corporate share of single-family rentals. Econofact https://www.wbtv.com
What I’ll fight for in Congress
1) Co-sponsor H.R. 1745 — the HOPE for Homeownership Act (Humans Over Private Equity).
This bill targets hedge funds that hold “excess” single-family homes by imposing an excise tax when they fail to dispose of excess holdings—creating real pressure to return homes to the market for people to buy.
2) Support H.R. 3214 — the HOME Act of 2025 (Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation).
This would empower HUD to investigate housing and rental price gouging during an affordable housing crisis and strengthen oversight of abusive market practices—especially when large investors dominate purchases and distort markets.
3) Push additional reforms that put families first, investments last.
Transparency on corporate ownership, guardrails on bulk purchases, and pro-homebuyer measures that prioritize owner-occupants, not “asset classes.”
The Principle
A functional society does not allow the basic human need for shelter to be harvested like a commodity, especially when families are locked out of ownership and renters are squeezed by fees and concentrated market power. We can’t solve the entire housing crisis with one law, but we can stop making it worse by letting corporate owners crowd out first-time buyers and convert neighborhoods into profit machines. Homeownership should be for people. My commitment is simple: in Congress, I will fight to put families and the American Dream back in front of private equity’s balance sheet where it belongs.