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It's not the house building that's expensive. It's everything else. At least before COVID. The labor and materials of a decent sized house about $50,000. (Of course now materials are three times the price... so it will cost more today). But the land, fees, taxes, utilities and other such costs drive the price up way up, double, tripple or even quadruple that.
Making houses cheaper to build has been an ongoing thing. Drywall is much cheaper than plaster. But the problem is in the end homes are more disposible. Plaster is much more water resistant, for an example. You get a small flood, fire or other thing and there goes everything.
Ideally we'd spend a bit more on making the house better built. Brick and mortar with plaster. Mineral or Rock wool or areated concrete for insulation that are fire resistant. Cement or rock siding. Smaller and fewer windows. Polished concrete and ceramic tile floors. The greatest cost of a house is the long term maintenance. Termites, water damage, fire damage, mold, etc. Make a house resist those things and it won't need as much maintenance and insurance prices could be lower.
Focusing on just making the initial building as cheap as possible doesn't help long term unless people are to treat their house like everything else, a throw away item.
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