What’s going on: President Donald Trump covered a lot of ground in his Davos speech — from ruling out military force in Greenland to trashing European countries and taking a jab at French President Emmanuel Macron’s “beautiful sunglasses.” But one topic likely felt a lot more personal for Americans: housing affordability. Trump cast it as a people-versus-business issue (a rich choice, given the very rich room). He warned the US shouldn’t become a nation of renters, and said, “Homes are built for people, not for corporations.” Trump apologized to corporate landlords — some he called friends — and blamed them for driving up prices by snapping up large numbers of single-family homes. A day after issuing an executive order on the issue, Trump said federal agencies would explore ways to help rein in these investors and level the home-buying field.
What it means: “The rent is too damn high” stopped being a punchline years ago, which explains why Trump’s housing push is getting some praise. If you’ve watched your costs climb, any promise of relief is welcome. But the fine print matters. Experts say large institutional investors own only about 2% of single-family rental homes, and any policy change is unlikely to drastically affect prices. Meanwhile, your rent or mortgage is still due every month — and that pressure keeps building. In the 50 largest US cities, the average one-bedroom rent jumped 41% from 2020 to 2025. And with little being done to address the housing supply crisis, frustration among voters continues to grow.
