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On January 20, 2026, President Trump issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/stopping-wall-street-from-competing-with-main-street-homebuyers/">executive order</a> titled, “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers” (the “Order”) that requires antitrust enforcers to evaluate institutional activity in local single-family housing markets under existing antitrust frameworks.

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The Order primarily directs federal housing programs to “preserve the supply of single-family homes for American families and increase the paths to homeownership.” The Order also instructs the Attorney General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to review both individual and cumulative acquisitions of “single-family homes in local single-family housing markets” by large institutional investors for potential anticompetitive effects. It directs those agencies to “prioritize enforcement of the antitrust laws, as appropriate, against coordinated vacancy and pricing strategies . . . in local single-family home rental markets.”

Enforcement Focus under Existing Antitrust Law

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The Order does not mandate enforcement action, create presumptions of illegality, or alter the analytical standards governing antitrust review. Indeed, any enforcement activity must proceed under the same statutory requirements that apply today. The Order’s practical significance lies instead in how it directs enforcement efforts, highlighting certain acquisition patterns and conduct as areas of interest and signaling where antitrust enforcement agencies may devote investigative resources.

The explicit reference to coordinated vacancy and pricing strategies closely parallels antitrust enforcement agency concerns. For example, in 2024, the DOJ and FTC <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/YardiSOI-filed%28withattachments%29_0.pdf">filed</a> a joint statement of interest supporting a civil lawsuit alleging unlawful pricing coordination in multifamily rental markets using algorithmic pricing tools. A more recent DOJ antitrust enforcement <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-requires-realpage-end-sharing-competitively-sensitive-information-and">action</a> addressed algorithmic and data-driven pricing in residential rental markets. In that matter, the DOJ focused on whether shared pricing systems, common data inputs, or third-party platforms function as mechanisms of coordination between competing lessors.

Coordinated Conduct and Algorithmic Pricing

Under established antitrust doctrine, parallel pricing or similar vacancy decisions are not unlawful absent evidence of agreement or concerted action. Courts <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/atr/coordinated-effects">require</a> proof of coordination to distinguish lawful conscious parallelism from unlawful collusion.

This latest executive Order suggests <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-proposed-consent-decree-livcor-one-americas-largest-landlords">continued examination</a> of whether institutional landlords’ use of common pricing software, shared datasets, or uniform management practices reduce independent pricing discretion in localized rental markets. Importantly, the Order does not imply that algorithmic pricing or data analytics are now inherently suspect. Enforcement risk arises when such tools facilitate coordination or agreement among market participants.

The Order’s instruction to enforcers to review “series of acquisitions” reflects an interest in cumulative effects at the local level. Housing markets are geographically narrow, and enforcers assess competitive effects accordingly. While institutional ownership may appear limited on a national basis, repeated acquisitions in particular markets may <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/05/ftc-doj-seek-info-serial-acquisitions-roll-strategies-across-us-economy#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%20the%20FTC%20scrutinizes%20these,officials%2C%20academics%2C%20and%20others">draw scrutiny</a> where they contribute to local concentration or facilitate coordinated conduct among competitors in particular geographies. In addition, the Order’s mandate to the Secretary of the Treasury and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy to define the terms “large institutional investor” and “single-family home,” together with its focus on “local single-family housing markets” and “local single-family home rental markets,” will undoubtedly inform the antitrust agencies’ efforts to define relevant antitrust markets and identify market participants in any antitrust investigations that may follow.

The Order does not expand liability or lower evidentiary thresholds. Instead, it reinforces existing enforcement priorities in a specific market context. Large institutional investors and other market participants may face increased information requests related to acquisitions, closer review of pricing and vacancy practices, and enhanced coordination between the FTC and the DOJ, particularly where investors use algorithmic pricing tools or shared data platforms. Accordingly, large institutional real estate investors should assess their acquisition and pricing practices for compliance with antitrust law, as both will likely come under increased scrutiny in the near future.

When Housing Policy Meets Antitrust Enforcement: What the Latest Executive Order Signals for Large Institutional Investors

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