Horsford: Housing Crisis Demands Immediate Action in Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) today responded to an announcement by President Trump that he would act to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes.

“For months, I’ve been sounding the alarm about Wall Street’s stranglehold over the housing market in Southern Nevada. As Nevadans continue to struggle through a housing crisis of Wall Street’s making, it’s good to see the President finally acknowledging the problem. Concepts of a plan won’t cut it, and I have a bill ready to go — if the President is serious about protecting families, he should support it,” Rep. Steven Horsford said. “My Housing Oversight and Mitigation Exploitation (HOME) Act is the only ready-to-move solution to bring real oversight to the housing market, prevent institutional investors from manipulating prices, and hold corporate property owners accountable when they exploit families for profit.” 

Horsford’s Housing Oversight and Mitigation Exploitation (HOME) Act would require needed oversight over the housing market to prevent institutional investors from manipulating it, and hold corporate property owners accountable for price manipulation. The bill followed a protracted listening campaign, including a housing-focused virtual town hall; a housing tour with the Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada; meetings with affordable housing leaders ahead of a state-level lobbying day; an Affordable Housing Roundtable and Affordable Housing Development Tour with the Nevada Housing Coalition; and an in-home meeting to hear the challenges a 25-year-old single mother of a five-year-old daughter faces keeping a roof overhead. 

During the third quarter of 2024, the Las Vegas Valley saw the largest jump of home purchases by corporate investors in the entire nation, representing over $1 billion in transactions and a 27.9 percent increase in such purchases over the second quarter. A 2023 study by UNLV’s Lied Center for Real Estate found that roughly 15 percent of all homes in the Las Vegas valley were owned by out-of-state corporate investors, including 25 percent of all homes in North Las Vegas. 

A recent report from the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities illustrates the stark reality Nevadans face in the housing market:

• Median rent and housing prices have dramatically outpaced income growth in Nevada.
• For renters, nearly 48 percent are classified as excessively burdened by housing costs – meaning at least 35 percent of their gross monthly income goes to keeping a roof over their heads.
• For extremely low-income renters, there are only 14 units available for every 100 households who need one – the lowest in the nation by far.
• And while income has gone up in some communities, the price of housing has grown by two-and-a-half times more than the growth of income.

More information about the HOME Act is available here.

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