Trump defends institutional housing investor ban: 'America will not become a nation of renters'

​​​​​​​By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to defend his attempt to rein in institutional investors from buying up single-family homes in the US, saying he will not allow the country to "become a nation of renters."

"In recent years, Wall Street giants and institutional investment firms, many of you are here, many of you are good friends of mine, many of you are supporters. Sorry to do this. I'm so sorry, but you've driven up housing prices by purchasing hundreds of thousands of single-family homes, and it's been a great investment for them," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"A corporation, they buy 500 houses, they buy hundreds of thousands. They buy 500 houses. They can take depreciation. A person sweats and works and buys one house, they can't. But homes are built for people, not for corporations, and America will not become a nation of renters. We're not going to do that," he added.

Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to advance his goal of prohibiting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The order stops short of accomplishing that, however, given the constraints of executive action.

It specifically calls on federal agencies to develop new guidance "preventing relevant Federal programs from approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating sales of single-family homes to institutional investors."

Trump urged Congress to develop legislation that would codify a ban on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes, and asked lawmakers to institute a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest.

"Whatever happened to usury?" he asked, apparently rhetorically. "This will help millions of Americans save for a home. They have no idea they're paying 28%. They go out there, a little late in their payment, and they end up losing their house. It's terrible."