I was speaking to my house builder in the middle of 2023 and he noted that it had become impossible to build a starter house (2/3 bedrooms, 1.5-2 bath) for less

I was speaking to my house builder in the middle of 2023 and he noted that it had become impossible to build a starter house (2/3 bedrooms, 1.5-2 bath) for less than $450k CAD (~$300k USD) -- excluding land, utility connection, and financing costs. He also mentioned that new requirements going into effect this year were going to add $10-15k per house. People tend to have a poor grasp on what building a new house actually costs. They cost a lot to build with no gouging whatsoever.