I enjoy all the comments that are so positive that housing prices only go up. Clearly, they didn't own a home in 2008 :-)

For all those who want the government to step in and reduce housing prices via regulation, consider that same government has interfered with the health care industry and the education industry for the last 50 years attempting to lower prices. The consequences are the opposite.

Here’s a different take that’s trying to be a bit more generous to the OP.

The goal isn’t necessarily about reducing home prices, it’s about increasing home ownership. Those shouldn’t be conflated.

So if that same context was applied to evaluating education, it has worked as the overall educational attainment has increased. Whether the cost is worth that increase can certainly be debated.

From the comments I'm reading, many just want a progressive tax applied to investment properties. I don't see a downside to that.

On the margin, that’s likely to reduce the supply of rental properties at a given price. Whether that’s good or bad on balance is an open question, because renting is clearly advantageous for many people, while ownership better for others.

I assumed it would not apply to multi-unit properties but only to single-family houses.

Around here (Cambridge, MA [and Somerville]), a very typical rental is in a 3-family, sometimes a 2 or 4 family. It’s fairy unusual to be able to rent a single-family here (there aren’t very many available for rent).

They might not understand supply&demand and economics but they understand violence and that's all they need to.

The burden of the proof is on Zillow, they are the multibillion behemoth

The burden of proof for what? That they’re the highest/best bidder for a house (or are the bidder that gives the most certainty or otherwise most appealing to the seller)? I trust the seller to make that determination.

Highest bid means nothing, moratoriums on institutional ownership of housing units are not a new concept.

If enough angry people are energized then the highest bid from Zillow or BlackRock or BlackStone...won't mean anything.

Matter of fact it can be reversed.

Public opinion is the ultimate free market and it works via the allocation of love and hatred by the populace.

Landlords gets a lot of hate as it is, think when the landlord is a multi-billion dollar company.