I am with you SJ. This has happened in the past 6-7 years and it is amazing to me. On one hand, if people are spending $300K for an entry level home, they feel like they deserve such extras. So it kind of makes sense. On the other hand, it is another example of how luxury items like granite counters and flat screen TVs have become not as much a luxury for some people as a perceived necessity. This kind of thinking has increased the personal debt rate to alarming new heights, but it also has driven our consumer-based economy, so there you go.
The "granite and stainless kitchen" for some reason has become synonymous in the minds of many for "good design," when clearly, CLEARLY it is not. It is a lazy way for many builders to impart a feeling of value, when as jdarg puts it, a better or roomier floor plan or excellent location is a much much better investment. But not everyone gets this. Not at all.
I do applaud the switch back to hardwood floors as being more "standard" than they have been in many years, though, because that is an upgrade that truly adds value and it is healthier for a lot of families to live in. Unfortunately there are substandard hardwood lines being made and installed now too, basically builder knockoffs of the ultimate flooring, which is site-finished, solid maple or oak (or heart pine if you have tons of $$$). So caveat emptor.