I agree too: rising house prices are bad for those wanting to trade up, contrary to the belief that some hold, like seeformiles:

Think about this scenario: you buy a flat in 1999 for 100k at a time when large houses cost 200k. Then by 2009 you've worked hard and cleared your mortgage early, plus your flat has doubled in value to 200k so you think 'great, time to sell and upgrade'. But because the house you want has doubled in value too, to 400k, even though you have equity for a deposit, you still need a bigger mortgage than you would have needed if house prices had stayed frozen. In fact in this example, the mortgage needed to buy the 400k house is twice as big as it would be if house prices had stayed the same.

This can be a little difficult to grasp, which is probably why there is a misconception that rising house prices is a good thing.