Watch: Trump says he wants to raise housing prices, not lower them

At President Donald Trump’s Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said home sales in December “rose sharply to their strongest pace in three years” — but that’s not exactly what appears to be happening in a housing market that has been a continuing source of frustration for American consumers.

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The National Association of Realtors reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales in December rose to 4.35 million units, the highest level “almost” in three years, the trade association noted. But the amount was just a 1.4% increase year over year.

More importantly, that would have marked a monthly decline as brokers separately said that pending home sales in December were down 3% from a year ago.

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Trump has said he wants to keep home prices high to increase people’s net worth, but that will likely keep construction levels low and price out potential first-time buyers.