President Trump Says He Wants Home Prices to Stay High
During a January 29 cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump told his administration that he does not want home prices to come down. "I don't want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes," he said. "When you make it too easy and too cheap to buy houses, those values come down."
Money.com reported on the remarks in the context of the administration's broader housing strategy. The president's position sets up a direct conflict between current homeowners, who benefit from rising property values, and younger Americans and first time buyers who are locked out of a market where prices have increased nearly 55 percent since 2020.
"Greed has set in at every level, because this is the first time in American history that this generation of young people, yes, you are probably doing worse than your parents generation," Murray said.
The Numbers Behind the Affordability Gap
According to the National Association of Home Builders, home prices increased by almost 55 percent nationwide between the beginning of 2020 and the third quarter of 2025. Some cities saw home values rise by as much as 88 percent during that period. The St. Louis Federal Reserve estimates the aggregate value of American homes at over $34 trillion. Individual homeowners who hold a mortgage have nearly $300,000 in equity on average, according to analytics firm Cotality.
Those numbers represent real wealth for people who already own homes. They represent an equally real barrier for people trying to buy one. A home that cost $180,000 in early 2020 now costs roughly $279,000 at the national average appreciation rate. In the Kansas City metro area, where demand from institutional investors and population growth has pushed prices above the state average, the gap is wider. A young couple in Olathe or Lenexa trying to buy their first home in 2026 faces a very different market than their parents did at the same age.
The median household income in Kansas is approximately $67,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. At current mortgage rates and home prices, a median income household in the Kansas City metro area needs to spend a significantly larger share of income on housing than the same household would have five years ago. In smaller Kansas markets like Salina, Hutchinson, and Manhattan, home prices have also risen, though from a lower base. The result is the same across markets. Buying a home requires more income, a larger down payment, or both.