What consumer product would be applauded for an ever increasing price? Long ago, houses were just a place to live. Somewhere in the recent past, things were distorted and the idea of a house as an "investment" came into being; that you would buy it for X and sell it for X+. Of course this thinking naturally drives the price higher and higher until, unexpectedly, *pop* goes the price.
When ever I hear someone say that that they consider their home their biggest investment, it tells me that they paid too much for their home and now they have no savings for the future.