A local lawmaker wants to level the playing field for homebuyers by limiting real estate investors purchasing single family homes

Published June 21, 2022 at 4:00 AM EDT

Mortgage rates on 30-year, fixed-rate loans rose above 5% this week. That's pushing the cost of buying a home higher and making homeownership unaffordable for more people. — State Sen. Bill Blessing is proposing a bill that would give individual homebuyers and nonprofits the first crack at foreclosure sales.

Real estate investment companies have increasingly purchased large numbers of single-family homes in markets like Greater Cincinnati, making it harder for families and individuals to attain homeownership in a tough housing market.

New legislation in Ohio seeks to take a first step toward leveling the playing field, however. A bill by State Sen. Bill Blessing would give individual homebuyers and nonprofits dedicated to housing the first chance to purchase homes at foreclosure auctions.

Sen. Blessing joins Cincinnati Edition to discuss the bill, along with Price Hill Will Executive Director Rachel Hastings, who talks about the impact real estate investment trusts have had on the Price Hill neighborhoods.

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