ALBANY, N.Y. — ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday she will push for new laws to make it harder for hedge funds to buy large numbers of single-family homes in the state.
In a statement, Hochul said she would propose legislation this year that would require a 75-day waiting period before large investment firms can place bids on new homes coming onto the market and could limit certain tax breaks when the companies buy homes.
The plan comes as lawmakers elsewhere have also sought to address public concerns that hedge funds and other large investors are buying up single-family homes and reducing the housing supply for individual buyers and families. Experts have attributed the housing shortage to various factors, including high mortgage interest rates and the years of underconstruction of new houses.
Hochul said in her statement that “shadowy private equity giants are buying up the housing supply in communities across New York, leaving ordinary homebuyers with fewer and fewer affordable options.”
According to the governor’s press release, private equity firms own more than 500,000 homes nationwide. Some estimates expect the companies to control up to 40% of the single-family rental market by 2030. There were more than 145 million homes in the country. in 2023, according to the U.S. Census facts.
A report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that non-individual investors – including landlords forming limited liability companies – owned a quarter of single-family homes in 2021. Larger investors tended to buy newer and larger homes in places with population growth and rapid rent increases, the report said.
Another one report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the nation’s five largest institutional investors owned nearly 2% of all single-family rental properties nationally in 2022, amounting to approximately 300,000 units.
Hochul, a Democrat, has presented a series of economic proposals before the state legislative session aimed at addressing the state’s high cost of living. On Thursday she also announced proposals to stimulate the construction of starter homes and help first-time buyers with down payments.