>There is also a second bias of the depletion of natural materials older houses were made of
This affects not just homes but like absolutely every consumer product thats been cheapened. Take furniture. It used to be even cheap furniture was solid wood. Now the cheap stuff, even the mid tier stuff, is all glued sawdust. Its hard to find good snags of furniture on the side of the road because that glued stuff dissolves like paper mache in like one day of rain. You chip a corner and it looks like hell and starts flaking and falling apart at that busted seam. Old stuff made from real wood can take quite a bit of abuse, get resanded, restained, and look like its worth some $$$ after an afternoon of elbow grease put into it.
This affects not just homes but like absolutely every consumer product thats been cheapened. Take furniture. It used to be even cheap furniture was solid wood. Now the cheap stuff, even the mid tier stuff, is all glued sawdust. Its hard to find good snags of furniture on the side of the road because that glued stuff dissolves like paper mache in like one day of rain. You chip a corner and it looks like hell and starts flaking and falling apart at that busted seam. Old stuff made from real wood can take quite a bit of abuse, get resanded, restained, and look like its worth some $$$ after an afternoon of elbow grease put into it.