Rising prices seem good superficially because a lot of people own houses and that means everyone is getting rich! The harm on people who don't already own a house is harder to see.
But this only helps people who own multiple houses, or don't plan to live in one. If you need a house, the gain you get from selling your existing house after appreciation is necessarily offset by the loss you take buying an appreciated replacement house.
You can't get rich, or benefit at all, from a nominal appreciation in the "price" of something you can't sell.
It's not as dire as you make out. That said, it's not as awesome as a lot of people seem to think.
There are so many cheaper ways to make an extra $3k per year. You could, for instance, spend 5 hours a week baby sitting for $12/hour.
Again, this doesn't help people who are trying to buy for the first time.