This method of "recycling" older aircraft either with good maintenance along the way or via a complete overhaul seems to be a reasonable path given the need for good training aircraft and/or the cost of replacement with appropriate new aircraft that might not exist.
Yes, I think 'recycling' plus new experimental amateur built kit aircraft is going to be the situation in the US for quite a while, perhaps indefinitely. Cirrus and like will sell a few too but not many in relation to the size of the existing fleet.
50 years ago you'd have seen RVs being sold in factory built form but today's certification cost and (more so) inflexibility for both manufacturer and owner make that relatively unattractive. Since most people in the US choose sole ownership, the FAA limitations on training with amateur built airframes do not appear significant to the market.
In Europe it's a combination of heavy aircraft regulation, bureaucracy & complexity associated with long distance travel by aircraft and outrageous fuel taxation that drives the market to low power engines and LSA type aircraft. Man made stuff all, at least as long as the actual untaxed cost of fuel isn't the limiting factor.