Trump's shock ban sends Blackstone stocks plummeting

Blackstone and other housing giants crashed hard on Wednesday after Trump threw down the gauntlet on institutional investors.

Shares of Blackstone Inc. and other housing-related companies cratered after President Donald Trump announced he would crack down on such companies from snatching up single-family homes and contributing to the affordability crisis nationwide.

"For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream," he wrote on Truth Social. "It was the reward for working hard, and doing the right thing, but now, because of the Record High Inflation caused by Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress, that American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans. It is for that reason, and much more, that I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it. People live in homes, not corporations. I will discuss this topic, including further Housing and Affordability proposals, and more, at my speech in Davos in two weeks."

Blackstone stock nosedived as much as 9.3% before bouncing back slightly, Bloomberg reported. That followed Trump's declaration that he was "immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes."

The mega-corporation is one of the nation's biggest players in residential real estate. Even so, Blackstone controls a tiny slice of single‑family homes overall — on the order of a few hundredths of a percent of the total housing stock.