I don't comment often, but this has been a good thread. I'm glad to see this thread is staying civil, so far. The Builders VS ARF assemblers discussion usually turns into a "if your not a builder, you fly a piece of junk, ARFs are junk, etc", but I haven't seen that here (yet).
To get right to the point, I think the reason Kits are getting scarce is lack of demand. Businesses are going to stock what sells. The quality of ARFs is pretty darned good these days and that's where the demand is. I know the quality isn't always "perfect", but I'd be willing to bet a lot of "kit" built airplanes aren't perfect either
(no offense intended).
Where have all the "builders" gone? A lot of them are at the field, flying ARFs. Older members of the hobby had no choice but to build, and many found they enjoy the building just as much or more than flying. People entering the hobby in the ARF era only "need" to build a kit if they desire an aircraft not offered as an ARF, and then may discover they enjoy building.
So, as Anthony stated (Hi Anthony), there are three types of hobbyists, Flyers, Builders/Flyers, and Scale builders.
I am in the "flyers" category.
I have built kits. I found that because of the huge amount of time and effort put in to building the aircraft, I was scared to death to fly them. Knees knocking on every flight, knot in the stomach. Just not "fun".
In the 90s, ARFs were not very good quality, but today's are very good. I fly the snot out of my ARFs, (blenders, tumbling, etc) and have never had a structural failure (well, at least as long as I keep from nose first, full throttle landings
).
One poster responded about the satisfaction he derived knowing he built it and there is a piece of him in every aircraft he built. I fully understand, respect, and admire that.
I derive satisfaction in flying knife edge down the length of the runway, full throttle, one foot off the ground, or pulling out of a "blender" just in time, or flying so slow, at the edge of a stall that the aircraft is drifting backwards in a 10 MPH wind. I could never risk an aircraft I spent a year building, that's why I fly ARFs.