I agree with F-One about "how I wished someone would build a neighborhood of really quality home with lots of nice upscale features in the house with a size of 1300- 1600 sq ft, one story on a decent sized lot." Yes, yes, yes! But most people aren't ready for that yet. I have a feeling that at some point, more people will start to realize that less is more manageable.
I'd like to see that too, but I guess in many areas, land is just too expensive. Where I live, the Maryland suburbs, I don't think there's any such thing as a single family starter home in new construction. That market has been taken over by the condo.
Also, on a square-foot basis, I think two-story houses are cheaper to build than one-story, because you have a smaller footprint, so you have less foundation work and less roof work, and the HVAC system doesn't have to be as sprawling.
I remember about 6 years ago, looking at new homes in the Houston area when I was there visiting some friends. For about $105-110,000, they had some one-story homes that were 3 br/2ba, 2-car garage, and probably about 1400-1600 square feet. But for about $25-30,000 more, you could get a 4 or 5 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath colonial that was also sporting a family room in addition to the living room, and probably about 2500 square feet. It just seemed like you got a lot more house for not a lot more money.
Of course, if you don't NEED that much house, I guess it's still a waste of money. But I can see how people get caught up in it.