Because they were using those examples to illustrate the difference between necessary and ordinary expenses?
$400000 will buy you 3 bedrooms in some areas and not even an EPA-condemned quarter acre in some others.
There are families which cram 3 generations and a dozen people into a few hundred square feet. There are people in Hong Kong living in spaces smaller than most American kitchens. By those metrics are we ALL in excessive lodging?
Is it excessive to be in a 1600 square foot house whose mortgage is lower than rent for a 500 square foot studio because you bought when interest rates were far lower?