In a rare moment of bipartisan overlap, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., and President Donald Trump have both advanced similar proposals aimed at curbing Wall Street’s role in the single-family housing market.
On Jan. 20, Trump issued his executive order, “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers.” One week later, Vasquez announced his co-sponsorship of the Bipartisan Families First Housing Act and the Stop Wall Street Landlords Act, citing the order and echoing its language.
The alignment highlights a shared focus on limiting large institutional investors and prioritizing individual homebuyers. Vasquez’s legislation mirrors the executive order’s directive to give owner-occupants an advantage over corporate entities in the purchase of residential properties.
The proposed bills would establish a 180-day “first look” period, allowing families and nonprofits the initial opportunity to purchase homes tied to federal programs before investors are permitted to bid. Trump’s order similarly instructs federal agencies to implement first-look policies designed to shield prospective homeowners from competition with private equity firms.
For New Mexico, Vasquez said the effects of institutional ownership are particularly pronounced. He pointed to out-of-state investors driving up prices and limiting access for local buyers, a practice the proposed legislation and executive action aim to curb by ensuring families and community organizations have a meaningful chance to compete.
Institutional investors (aka Wall Street buyers) are not and were not ever an issue in NM’s housing market. Currently, institutional owners account for less than 1% of the property owners in our state, and the majority purchased their properties between 2012 and 2014. It was a time when our housing market was still very flat or depressed, coming out of the Great Recession. There was still a shadow inventory of properties that had been distressed and were moving through the short sale and foreclosure process, and the market had not shifted into a full recovery mode yet. Most of the institutional purchases at that time were completed without any competition, meaning other buyers were not interested or offering at the same time, and properties had likely been on the market many weeks or months. In fact, these institutional buyers probably helped nudge the market towards recovery mode, which gradually started in 2015, picking up pace in 2016 and 2017. From 2012 to 2014, the market was very flat and many homeowners were still underwater on mortgages and/or losing money if they needed to sell. Wall Street was largely absent in New Mexico during the recent Covid boom in the housing market. Be careful what you wish for. There might be a day when we need or want those institutions buying if stability or positive growth is needed during or after a depressed market. We seem very quick to forget about the dark days of the 2008-2013 recession, and widespread path of destruction it left behind.
??President Leeann Vasquez??LoveYou President Gabe Vasquez … Feb.5th, 2026
??President Leeann Vasquez??LoveYou President Gabe Vasquez … Feb.5th, 2026