Build-to-Rent to Benefit from Trump's Aim on Institutional Investors

New York, NY, February 2, 2026-"President Trump is taking aim at big institutional investors that buy single-family homes. But one Wall Street group active in the housing market stands to benefit from his crackdown,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

“The build-to-rent [BTR] business is exempt from Trump’s executive order to restrict large investors from purchasing homes. So-called BTR developers build neighborhoods of new single-family homes specifically for the purpose of renting them out, either on their own or by selling the homes to institutional investors.

“It is a small but growing corner of the single-family rental industry. Build-to-rent has generally avoided American politicians’ ire because it allows institutional investors to own homes without competing against individual home buyers for the existing housing stock.

“Build-to-rent has already become more popular on Wall Street in recent years. Big firms like Invitation Homes and Pretium Partners still buy some existing homes, but they are increasingly pivoting toward build-to-rent within their single-family rental operations.

“Now, with Trump’s new carve-out, that gradual movement toward BTR is poised to turn into an all-out sprint. 

“‘There’s going to have to be a change in the model,’ said Trevor Koskovich, Northmarq’s head of investment sales. ‘This is great for the build-to-rent segment.’

“That transition over time could fundamentally change American suburbs. Build-to-rent communities expand mostly in the suburbs because they require swaths of land not available in cities. That means that neighborhoods historically dominated by homeowners could see a flush of new rental communities, said Brad Case, chief residential economist at Homes.com.”