BG, if we take ‘over-rated’ to mean ‘perceived poor value for money’, then I think it is not only SD that is over-rated. If you can buy a similar home for half the price elsewhere, the implication is there must be twice as much on offer; better schools, better homes, better jobs, better weather, better cultural facilities etc. Those are all difficult things to quantify, but most will have an inbuilt value-o-meter.
My view is that RE has been highjacked in many places and these places share things in common. They tend to be English or Asian speaking, major metropolitan conurbations, with an industry that drives it and a government that accommodates it. In other words, a culture has been built up around it. We know when it started, when it got out of hand, the consequences, and the continued disregard for it. I find it useful to view current trends through that prism. Others clearly find it irrelevant arguing that homes now represent good value ie, they are affordable as measured by income and rents. But why then do they continue to debate it unless they are a little insecure in their beliefs. If one thing has defined RE over the last decade or two, it is insecurity. The problem faced by many is they don’t have a choice. Complacency and ignorance feeds the beast. Homes remain over-valued.
The OP’s choice of home is a prime example of the home-fest culture. It clearly is not a mansion, and the +$1m price tag is incredible. It is a tract home with no individuality, no personality, packed with ‘pseudo-designer” finishes, surrounded by featureless, arid land. If you paid the asking price for that home you are fool by my accounts. Corporations are telling us how to live, what colors we should like, and even what views we should enjoy. If you are smart enough to make enough money to afford that price tag, you should be smart enough to know that it is not worth it. I feel sorry for anyone who can’t see that. Strike that …I don’t feel sorry for them at all.
