Planet Money Can Trump make buying a home more affordable?
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Jan 31, 2026 They dig into two recent White House moves aimed at making homebuying cheaper and whether those actions could actually lower mortgage rates. The show investigates how big investors buying single-family homes may shape prices in certain markets. Listeners hear a personal housing struggle that highlights why affordability matters and why supply remains the core challenge.
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Extreme Measures To Afford A Down Payment
- James Lawrence lived in a tent and his car to save money after getting priced out of his apartment.
- He deployed to Djibouti to earn tax-free and hazard pay to afford a house down payment.
Wall Street Ownership Is Small But Visible
- Caitlin Gorbach found institutional investors own about 0.3% of all U.S. housing units as of 2022.
- That share rises to nearly 3% for single-family rental homes, and purchases account for ~5% of such buys from 2010–2022.
Concentrated Buying Drives Local Effects
- Institutional buying is highly geographically concentrated in Sunbelt suburbs like Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, and Phoenix.
- In some census tracts these investors own double-digit shares of units, creating local market impacts.