U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen from Nevada has introduced legislation to help lower housing costs through The Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation (HOME) Act, a measure drafted to crack down on price gouging by corporate investors who are buying up housing stock and driving up home prices.
“Hardworking Nevada families are being squeezed by the rising costs of housing, and we know part of the problem is corporate investors who buy up homes and drive up prices,” said Sen. Rosen. “I’m introducing this bill to crack down on corporate price gouging in the housing market and lower costs for Nevadans. Every Nevadan deserves an affordable place to call home, and I’m committed to doing everything I can to lower costs and give Nevadans more breathing room.”
The Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation (HOME) Act would:
- Make it illegal for any person to rent or sell a dwelling unit at an unreasonable price during an affordable housing crisis.
- Direct the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to investigate whether home prices are being manipulated by artificially reducing housing capacity or through other price-gouging practices.
- Empower the HUD Secretary to monitor home purchases within housing markets across the country to investigate market manipulation, including through data collection of housing purchases by corporate investors.
- Direct the Secretary of HUD to determine if corporate investors are purchasing an excessive amount of housing in a particular market, and, in the case where a single institutional investor buys more than 5% of the single-family housing units in a market over a three-year period, or more than 25% of the single-family housing unit in a one-year period, requires the investigation of price gouging and unfair investment practices that drive homeowners out of the market.
- Authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Secretary of HUD to collect and analyze data on practices that unfairly prevent applicants and tenants of rental housing from accessing or staying in housing units.
- Limit investments from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) to organizations that have either violated renter protections or have been found to have raised rent by egregious rates in the past.
- Direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to jointly review anti-competitive behavior in the residential housing market.
“Sen. Jacky Rosen has been a steadfast advocate for affordable housing in Nevada, working tirelessly to address the challenges faced by families across the state. The Nevada Housing Coalition is proud to support her efforts for the HOME Act,” said Maurice Page, Executive Director of Nevada Housing Coalition. “This bill is a direct reflection of her deep commitment to ensuring all Nevadans have access to safe, affordable housing. It not only addresses the immediate needs of our housing crisis but also lays the groundwork for a more equitable and prosperous future for all Nevadans. We urge all stakeholders—policymakers, community leaders, and citizens—to support this transformative Act.”
According to a recent National Association of Realtors (NAR) report on the state of the nation’s housing stock, for-sale inventory is up nearly 20% from a year ago. NAR’s study found that middle- and upper-middle-income buyers—those earning between $75,000 and $100,000 annually—have seen the greatest improvement in affordable housing supply among all income groups. Specifically, in March 2024, 20.8% of listings were within reach for these households. By March 2025, that share rose modestly to 21.2%.
And while the for-sale inventory gain marks a step in the right direction, it is still a long way from pre-pandemic conditions. In 2019, buyers in this income bracket could afford nearly half, 48.8%, of all active listings. A balanced market would offer them access to approximately 48.1% of listings, suggesting a shortage of nearly 416,000 listings priced at or below $255,000.
At the lower end of the income spectrum, conditions have not improved and, in fact, have worsened. Buyers earning less than $50,000 per year, who are looking for homes priced under $170,000, now face even fewer affordable options than they did a year ago.
Sen. Rosen has been fighting to lower housing costs for hardworking Americans, most recently introducing the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act, a bill that would provide a tax credit for first-time homebuyers.
She also recently joined a bipartisan bill, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, to help lower housing costs and incentivize housing development in Nevada.
Additionally, Sen. Rosen has pushed the Trump Administration to reverse course on imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico to prevent housing prices from rising even further.
