Rival bills want to make homebuying more affordable. Here's how they would tackle the problem.

With Americans facing a housing affordability crunch, lawmakers from both parties are advancing rival bills aimed at curbing institutional investors' purchases of single-family homes. One proposal would eliminate tax advantages for large real estate investors, while the other would bar big firms from buying single-family properties altogether. Edited by Aimee Picchi In:

With Americans facing a housing affordability crunch, lawmakers from both parties are advancing rival bills aimed at curbing institutional investors' purchases of single-family homes. One proposal would eliminate tax advantages for large real estate investors, while the other would bar big firms from buying single-family properties altogether.

The two proposals come after President Trump reiterated his push to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes during Tuesday's State of the Union address. Mr. Trump first proposed the idea last month, writing in a social media post that "people live in homes, not corporations."

While the bills take sharply different approaches to reining in institutional investors, some housing experts say neither addresses a larger underlying problem — years of underbuilding that have left the nation short several million homes needed to meet demand. 

But some lawmakers say pushing institutional investors from the housing market could help homebuyers by cutting out deep-pocketed competition. Investment firms own about 3.8% of single-family rental properties, although that share is above 20% in cities including Atlanta and Jacksonville, Florida, according to a 2023 Urban Institute analysis.

Here's how the two bills, the American Homeownership Act and the Homes for American Families Act, compare.