The "luxury" housing that gets built in the Bay isn't actually special; it's just expensive because it's in high demand, and because being new means it isn't ru

The "luxury" housing that gets built in the Bay isn't actually special; it's just expensive because it's in high demand, and because being new means it isn't run down. The only axis on which housing ever really has much of a premium is square-footage, and the larger units just end up with more people living in them. It's sort of like the market for cars: poor and middle class people buy used, moderately wealthy people buy the same kinds of cars except new, and only a tiny fraction of the market is premium on any axis other than newness.