One of the first lessons I was taught when I was a kid, came from a man who was considered a master breeder at the time. He told me to remember that over 50% of the genetics were in the feed bucket. I have no idea how many times I have thought of that through my life. There is some truth to this, in that even the best cattle don't look very good when they are thinner. I have a friend that always has his cows in excellent condition, and I sometimes tell him, that his cows are too fat. He always replies that he has never had a potential buyer drive out of his yard because his cattle were too fat, but he knows of many places where potential buyers have driven out of people's yards because their cattle were too thin. Again, some truth to this as well. Personally, I believe moderate condition is the best for both the cows and the owners.
In regards to cattle getting expensive, I don't think this is a recent phenomenon. It is more recent in clubby calves probably, but there has always been high priced sales in the purebred side. I am old enough to remember some sales in the 60s that had $25000 - $30,000 animals. I think one thing that is hard for many of us to get our heads around, is that some people do not want to buy cheap cattle. I have had a couple of occasions when I was working as a sale consultant where this was brought home to me. One of these involved getting a bid on a bull calf in a sale. The guy who gave me the bid, gave me $8000 to bid on a particular bull calf. I told him that I would probably be able to get him bought for less than the bid he had given me. He replied that I was to make sure the bull calf sold close to the bid he gave me, and he told me the worst thing he could do was purchase a cheap bull to use in his herd. He felt that this could possibly reduce the value of his calves when it came time for them to sell.
On another occasion, I was given a very large bid on a female in a sale. This man told me that he was quite taxable and he needed to purchase some cattle to solve his tax problems. He said he would rather own 1 or 2 cows that cost $15,000 - $20000 each than have to purchase 15-20 cows that cost $2000-2500 each. Guess everyone sees this differently, and sometimes what these animals bring makes no sense to us, but it makes perfect sense to the buyer.