"Hankies at the ready!"
The author seems to get the ridiculousness of it all.
We have it here in the US, too: the McMansion jet set. New developments here often have a clubhouse/pool/golf course surrounded by mostly McMansions with a small section of slightly bigger but still not really mansions versions of the McMansions. The larger house people do the craziest things, like rip off the whole front of the house to redo it with some gigantic porch facade, more ornate door, big columns, etc. Have a landscaper come in and kill everything currently growing for a complete redo of your less than half acre estate? Happens all of the time around here. I'm sure some of the people in these neighborhoods are completely wealthy, but many are just big earners one paycheck away from being buried in their debts.
David Duchovny and Demi Moore made a somewhat entertaining flick about this called "The Joneses."