What happened to the reasonably priced project car?

I spent years looking for a rust free 70-72 Dart or duster. The story was always the same I would go to look at the car that was supposed to not have and yes it always had rust. Finally I saw a 70 Dart on ebay with fresh paint and no’s matching and a slant. I didn’t really trust the guy but he had pics of the car stripped down to metal. I drove it home from Reno for 3500 this was in 2009.
I wish now that I hadn’t done a 360 magnum swap it would probably be worth more. I can’t believe what folks now want for a Dart with no numbers matching . I was lucky it was at the height of the recession and the sellers were hurting badly.