post-war housing quality was pretty good in the 50s, and started going downhill (the inverse to rising inflation) in the late 60s - 70s. Again, just like inflation, the quality bottomed out in the 80s and things started getting better. Houses built after the 2000s are not terrible. The US suffers from lack of skilled labor as starting in the post-war period we decimated our trade school system -- everyone wants to go to college and be a professional, and we hate tracking. So we are cranking out lots of people with no skills. That really hurts in construction, civil engineering, electrical engineering, machinists, etc. What helps is mass produced pre-fab components that can at least provide some consistent quality and can be put together by low-skilled workers. That has helped raise quality.

Bigger buildings - condos, etc -- are a different story because modern buildings have a lot of tech that is built to spec. It often doesn't work out. Think of it like a big software project -- there are disasters and marvels.

But the idea that homes only last 50 years and are then torn down is absurd. Not sure whether the author has never been to the US or they are intentionally trolling. Half of all US houses were built before 1980 (40 years old). 40% were built before 1970.