>Pardon my french, but isn't it just fucking amazing how we've 'progressed' with automation in a century and many of us are still working for decades just to afford mere shelter? It's often not even to a high spec.

Yes but why is it this way?

I think the best answer is that (in the US) the state has heavily restricted the supply of land available for development in desirable areas (through zoning, etc) and also heavily subsidized demand by nationalizing the mortgage market.

This has pumped up several large sectors of the economy (FIRE) which would otherwise be subject to ordinary economic supply and demand. They all profit from home sales, construction and insurance, and have made certain that the state guarantees their revenue.

Ordinary home buyers go along with the deal because they get cheaper loan rates and more loan principal than a purely private finance market would ever provide.