I think this is assuming the conclusion. If you assume houses didn't change at all then sure, the "value" is the same as before even though the price went up, a

I think this is assuming the conclusion. If you assume houses didn't change at all then sure, the "value" is the same as before even though the price went up, and home owners didn't see any benefit. Sometimes that's true for a particular house, but why assume that overall, no houses changed? Contractors get paid to do things. People do work on their houses. Also, the value of a thing is often due to context rather than the thing itself. The neighborhood could really have gotten better over time, even if the house itself didn't change. That counts as a benefit. Maybe not one you wanted, though.