Congress passed a housing affordability bill that caps how many single-family homes big investors can own — a win for would-be buyers, but unlikely to fix the core problem on its own.

• The bill bars large institutions like BlackRock from owning more than 350 single-family homes nationwide, aiming to stop Wall Street from squeezing families out of the market.
• It passed with strong bipartisan support, though free-market voices like Rand Paul, Massie, and Mike Lee opposed government setting limits on who can buy.
• The deeper cause: after the 2008 crash, banks stopped lending to regular people, so Wall Street firms became the main buyers and drove prices up.
• Homes have gotten bigger and far pricier — houses now cost five times income (more in cities), and the average first-time buyer is now 40 years old, up from 29 in the 1980s.
• The real fix may be building cheaper starter homes and cutting permitting delays, since investors own only about 3% of rentals and there's a shortage of millions of homes.

Outlook: The cap becomes law once Trump signs it, but without more small-home building and easier lending, young buyers will likely stay priced out and stuck renting.