Kaz Nejatian, CEO of real estate technology company Opendoor, said he strongly supports President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting Wall Street and large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, arguing that the policy directly addresses a real and worsening homeownership crisis in America.
Trump’s executive order aims to block large Wall Street institutional investors from buying single-family homes, directing federal agencies to stop supporting such purchases through federal housing programs while prioritizing sales to individual owner-occupants.
Nejatian, during an appearance on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, said Trump’s executive order aligns with Opendoor’s mission and with longstanding American principles of property ownership.
“At Opendoor, our job is to tilt the world towards homeowners and people working hard to become homeowners,” Nejatian said.
“President Trump took a step towards making housing more affordable for everyday Americans,” he added, calling the executive order “a step in the right direction” for restoring access to homeownership.
Nejatian added that Trump’s action targets a structural problem in the housing market, stating, “I think President Trump is taking steps to fix a real homeownership crisis in America.”
He framed homeownership as a defining feature of the American system, pointing to its historical role in promoting independence and social stability.
“The fact that Americans own the ground that they live on has been the key differentiator that has allowed this country to avoid the road to serfdom,” he said, arguing that widespread ownership has been essential to community formation and economic mobility.
According to Nejatian, affordability challenges have delayed first-time homeownership to historic levels, noting that “the average homeowner, the first-time homeowner, is over 40 years old.”
He warned that treating housing primarily as a financial asset has weakened communities and limited families’ opportunities.
“For too long, housing has been treated just like another asset class, but it really isn’t. It’s where communities grow,” Nejatian said.
He emphasized that buying a home represents a long-term commitment, adding, “When you buy a home, you buy a share in the community.”
Nejatian highlighted how homeownership is linked to improved social outcomes, including stronger family investment and safer neighborhoods.
“If you own a home, you work harder. If you own a home, the odds are the crime in your neighborhood goes down,” he said, adding that “kids that are born in houses that are owned by their parents have better life outcomes.”
Addressing concerns about Wall Street firms acquiring large numbers of single-family homes, Nejatian contrasted the impact of renters versus owners on neighborhood stability.
“Renters move, owners stay. Owning a home in a community is a little bit like being married to that community. You are committed to its future,” he explained.
Nejatian argued that excessive investor ownership has contributed to declining civic engagement and to the weakening of downtown areas, particularly outside major coastal cities.
“So much of our downtown cores are being emptied out because people don’t own homes in them anymore like they used to,” he said.
Nejatian characterized the Trump administration’s approach as pro-family rather than anti-business, rejecting the notion that the policy represents government overreach.
“These policies are not an attack on business; they’re an investment in the future of this country,” he said, adding that families do not need subsidies but structural fairness in the housing market.
“American families don’t need handouts, but what they do need is their government to tilt the scale to be more fair. I think that’s the most important thing the government can do for the future of home ownership in this country,” Nejatian noted.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
