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It's not that people want housing to be more expensive, but they do want that housing to be in demand. Housing is in demand when an area is desirable -- offering good schools, providing efficient social services, vibrant and diverse markets are contributing factors to a desirable area, so when housing prices increase it is a sign that the area is desirable. As an area becomes more desirable, the price of housing goes up as the result.

If rents always went down there'd be no incentive to build and own supply. I think the thought experiment here is that though this is a seemingly simple supply and demand problem on the surface its also exceedingly complicated to actually plan and adjust for due to all the related inputs to housing (schools, water, fire, political representation, etc.)

I've always thought that people in power tended to invest in real estate, and the obsession with increasing housing prices (not only a US thing) was those people simply protecting their interests.