system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is the rising cost of housing considered “good” for homeowners?

I recently saw an article which stated that for homeowners “their houses are like piggy banks.” But if you own your house, an increase in its value doesn’t seem to help you in any real way, since to realize that gain you’d have to sell it. But then you’d have to buy or rent another place to live, which would also cost more. It seems like the only concrete effect of a rising housing market for most homeowners is an increase in their insurance costs. Am I missing something?
gpt
You don't have to sell.  You can refinance or take out a Home Equity Line of Credit as well.  You can also take other types of loans using it as collateral.  When people say this though, they're mostly just referring to the idea that they WILL eventually get to cash out all that value one day.