[WalterBright]

Again, take a look at the remaining older homes in your area. It's not depreciation that makes them cheap. They are very small and poorly, cheaply built by modern standards. Saying they were originally targeted to the middle and upper class says a lot about how the standard of living has improved.

> they need to be replaced with something pretty expensive to make the project economically viable.

Which implicitly requires there being lots and lots and lots of people who can buy them.