Do you really believe everyone thinks this way? No one I know who owns a home bought it for investment. They bought it so their family has a place to live that is theirs.
The American Dream™ centers heavily around home ownership and the government subsidizes it by allowing mortgage interest deductions and underwriting zero-down loans. Getting a mortgage and building equity is the only feasible path to wealth for working-class people who don't have money lying around to invest or the financial literacy to start doing so [1]. Contrast this with reality: in the market I live in it's actually around 20% cheaper to rent on average (presumably because California caps property tax increases). For 30 year mortgages in a sideways market you generally have to make payments for 5 years before you can break even when you sell. On top of that houses are non-fungible, illiquid assets that require maintenance and are subject to black swan events like termites, natural disasters, and destructive tenants that might not be covered by insurance. On a rational basis they are mediocre investments but our culture has conditioned people to think this way because it's their only hope for a nest egg. One might also recall what happened circa 2008 when banks encouraged the house-poor to leverage themselves to the hilt via various home equity loans to the delight of sports car and big screen TV manufacturers.
I don't think this is a healthy state of affairs but these are the breaks.
[1] I didn't gain a solid understanding of personal finance until after I'd already bought a house with nothing more than several thousand dollars in my checking account - stumbling across Bogleheads via the web saved me.