Mortgage Research Network Podcast

Welcome to the Mortgage Research Network Podcast. We bring you the latest mortgage and real estate news 3 times a week. The audio is AI generated, but content is fact-checked by me, Tim Lucas, editor of MortgageResearch.com and a former mortgage professional. And with me is Craig Berry, a mortgage originator with 25 years experience. Craig, did you know that nearly three out of four Americans think corporate real estate investors are to blame for our housing crisis?

That may explain why we just saw that executive order aimed at reining in big institutional investors. But what's the real story here?

Well, when you dig into the data, these institutional investors everyone's worried about only own about 2% of single-family rental homes nationwide. Though - and here's where it gets interesting - in some southeastern markets, they're much more dominant.

Hmm... tell me more about those regional differences.

So in Atlanta, for instance, institutional investors own about 25% of the single-family rental market. Jacksonville's at 21%, Charlotte's at 18%, and Tampa's at 15%. It's like they're playing Monopoly, but only on certain parts of the board.

That's EXACTLY the kind of concentration that gets people worried. But I've heard there's more to the recent investment numbers?

Oh yeah - check this out. Investors made up one-third of buyers in the second quarter of 2025, which sounds huge, right? Well, that quarter actually saw fewer overall sales. In fact, investors bought 16,000 fewer homes than the previous year.

So we're looking at percentages that don't tell the whole story?

Precisely - and here's another crucial detail people miss: this executive order won't affect small investors at all - you know, the ones who own fewer than 11 properties. And get this - these properties make up 91% of all homes owned by investors.

Well that certainly puts things in perspective. What about these build-to-rent communities I keep hearing about?

That's actually one of the most interesting exemptions in the order. These entire neighborhoods built specifically for renters? Completely untouched. The developers argue they're helping people live in pricier areas where they couldn't afford to buy anyway.

You know, that almost sounds like creating a middle ground in the market.

Exactly - and here's what I find really fascinating about this whole situation. Marc Norman from NYU's Schack Institute suggests we might be missing the real issue entirely. He argues it's not about who's buying - it's about supply constraints. When you don't have enough houses being built, prices go up regardless of who's doing the buying.

So we might be focusing on the wrong part of the equation?

Yeah - think about it this way. If we had plenty of housing supply, would we care as much about who's buying? The fundamental issue might be that we're simply not building enough homes to meet our population's needs.

Though that 73% of Americans blaming investors - that's quite a strong public sentiment.

It really speaks to how emotional this issue is. When you're struggling to find an affordable place to live, it's natural to want to find someone to blame. But the solution probably needs to be more comprehensive, things like zoning issues, improving access to financing, and yes, maybe some targeted regulations on institutional investors.

So what should people be watching for as this plays out?

Well, I'd say keep an eye on three things: how they define "large institutional investors," what happens in those southeastern markets where investor concentration is highest, and most importantly - whether this leads to any meaningful increase in housing supply. Because at the end of the day, that's what's really going to move the needle on affordability.

And in the meantime, we'll have to see if this executive order actually makes any difference in those markets where institutional investors have the biggest presence.

You know what's really going to be telling? Whether this leads to any real change in those markets like Atlanta and Jacksonville. Because right now, it feels like we're treating a symptom rather than the underlying problem. That's about all the time we have for this topic, but we go into even more detail on the site. For more, search "wall street housing costs" at Mortgage research.com. We'll see you next time on the Mortgage Research Network Podcast.