That's mixing realities though. Building a house from 30 years ago is pretty much up to code today. It was a modern house in all the ways you'd expect.

You are right if we go older. But we don't have to go far to prove the point.

There are a lot of places in SV that literally haven’t been seriously renovated since they were built in the 40’s and 50’s going for $1.5M+. 0% interest rates along with NIMBYism and high tech salaried have seriously inflated land prices in CA, at least. I think the first two factors have had a more universal effect, and just multiply the locally available salary range to yield the limits of purchasing power, which becomes the market clearing price of the local homes.

I get the feeling they were talking about something comparable to what their parents had at their age, in location, size, etc. In my experience, this isn't new construction--especially if the location is similar. In the desirable areas (I can't speak specifically to Vancouver, but I imagine it is) they're the same houses; now a generation older.

I could barely afford a house built as a hunting bungalow in 1918, expanded multiple times, in the 60s-70s a lot of unpermitted work was done. Trying to get work done was a nightmare because nothing was to code (some reputable contractors refused to do work). Sure, the appliances were fairly new, the pipes and some of the electrical had been updated, but all of those were relatively minor expenses and most of the upgrades were aesthetic.

Your insurance splits out the cost of the land and "improvements" (the structures) because you're only insuring the house because a flood/fire won't destroy the land. In my case, the cost of rebuilding the house dwarfed the cost of the property itself.

Land value, which is a proxy for better infrastructure, has dramatically increased.

The cost of improvements on land has decreased.

Mostly yes, but it does depend on what you like. Hardwood floors, handmade brick (as opposed to the 9 variations that come out the factory), hardwood weatherboards and nice stonework are not in my price range. Labour used to be cheap and it’s the labour that makes a place somewhere I’d like to be.

That's also why a lot of that antique furniture is so nice, which the current stuff is crap.

Sometimes it’s the exact same home from 50 years ago that’s still out of reach.