President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to prohibit corporate investors from purchasing homes could have significant implications in Florida, a state where large-scale landlords have become major players in the single-family rental market.
Wall Street-backed companies, including global asset managers, private equity firms, and real estate investment trusts, have spent years acquiring residential properties throughout Florida. Their activity intensified during the pandemic when many people relocated to Sun Belt states like Florida. According to some estimates, institutional investors now control between 20 and 25 percent of the state’s single-family rental homes.
This expansion has prompted criticism from aspiring homeowners and politicians who argue that well-funded corporate buyers are reducing the number of available homes for sale. The surge in acquisitions has also drawn attention as housing affordability becomes a more prominent political issue.
Trump has not provided specific details on how his proposed ban would be implemented. He is expected to elaborate on his plan at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Switzerland later this month.
Large rental operators generate substantial revenue from their Florida holdings. Invitation Homes, once part of Blackstone and now the largest single-family rental landlord in the country, reported $556 million in revenue from its nearly 27,000 Florida homes during the first nine months of last year. The company’s statewide portfolio is valued at $4.2 billion.
Other major owners include American Homes 4 Rent, which holds almost 8,700 properties worth about $2.1 billion in Florida. Privately held firms such as Progress Residential, Tricon Residential, and FirstKey Homes collectively own tens of thousands more units across the state; however, their exact figures are less transparent. Estimates suggest that by late 2024 corporate investors owned approximately 117,000 single-family homes in Florida.
Smaller entities have also entered this growing sector. Tampa-based Second Avenue secured $250 million in funding two years ago after gradually building its rental platform since 2017.
Despite these trends, some economists question whether barring institutional buyers would address underlying issues with affordability or supply. Jeff Korzenik, chief economist at Fifth Third Bank, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal: “Institutional investors own about 20 percent of the single-family rental market nationally, so it’s not a big part of the housing stock,” he said. “The reality is that affordability comes down to supply, and who owns that supply is a less important factor.”
