That's hard to understand, except that labor costs are so high in CA, and that's driven up housing cost, which has driven up labor cost ... which has driven work overseas ... <sigh> ...

My house is of all-brick exterior. It has wooden soffit and fascia, of course, but you're right, most of them are brick and frame if they have any brick at all. My mother went on the local "parade of homes" tour one year about a decade ago, where they showed off their >>$500k houses. Her friend visiting from Europe commented on the nominally 2 cm gaps in the joints between adjoining walls, through which they could see daylight at the poorly constructed joints between walls and ceiling. That was a decade ago, and it hasn't gotten any better.

Trust me ... if you don't want to have a house custom-built and supervise every step of the way, at GREAT expense, you don't want a house built in the U.S. inside the last 20-30 years. The best of them, costing in the millions, in some cases, are still CRAP!

It's the American work ethic, or lack thereof. That's why nobody throughout the world wants U.S.-made manufactured goods any more. They may buy a U.S.-made car once, but not twice.

If you can get four hours' honest work in a week of a typical worker's time, you're doing well. That's why the U.S. manufacturing economy is "circling the bowl."

RE