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Also, land is not scarce in the south and midwest which is we haven't really seen a rise in price per square foot in 40 years [0] as it is basically all construction costs as you can build a new home in a new suburb at the edge of the city.

[0]: https://www.supermoney.com/inflation-adjusted-home-prices/

A not insubstantial cost of that rebuild is permitting.

Doesn't that include the cost of demolition? Demolition done right is very expensive.

In a city, most construction is going to involve demolishing the previous structure. So you could argue there isn't much value in pricing construction sans the cost of demolition.

Well no, because the cost of demolition is the same no matter what you build, right?