5 Surprising Truths Behind the Headline For many American families, the dream of homeownership—the American Dream—feels increasingly out of reach. Single-family home prices have surged, wages have not kept pace, and frustration is mounting. In this climate, Donald Trump has proposed a dramatic solution: banning large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. The message is politically powerful and immediately understandable. It identifies a clear villain and promises swift relief. Yet the reality of the U.S. housing market is far more complex. Behind the headlines are facts that challenge common assumptions—and reveal why this proposal may oversimplify a deeply structural problem. Below are five critical truths behind the debate. 1. “Wall Street” Owns Far Less Than Most People Think The first disconnect between rhetoric and reality lies in scale. Large institutional investors—the primary targets of Trump’s proposal—own only a small fraction of the U.S. single-family housing stock. Most estimates place their share at approximately 1–3% of all single-family homes, or about 2%…