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I live in East Dallas, and I think it would be next to impossible to build a basement in my neighborhood. The soil in this area only goes down about 18". Judging by the local creeks, there is at least 20' of solid white rock below that foot and a half of soil. I know I can't dig more than a foot down in my yard without hitting LARGE white boulders. Much of the neighborhood is dotted by these boulders used as yard art. There are million dollar homes in this neighborhood most with no basement. I live two blocks from the underground house referenced in an earlier post, and it's actually built in a man-made hill above ground. This house cost close to $2 million to build in 2000, so I imagine money wasn't the biggest issue when they decided to build their house in a hill.
All that being said, it really comes down to the freeze line. In case you haven't noticed, starting in the 1950's houses quit being an expression of an architect's, builder's, or homeowner's self, and became a commodity that was built as quickly and inexpensively as possible. With no need for a basement because of such a shallow freeze line, there's no way a modern home builder would incur the extra expense.
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