The contrairy is the case. The SLVL is now not as important anymore for pixpet finds of lower level pets. Lover level pets are now much more likely to find stuff. :) Once they reach higher levels they will also find rarer things to increase the SLVL. It is true that a small house can not hold many rare items, however already a SLVL of 50 is very good and can be achieved with the help of lottery interactions.
I agree with you that the potions may turn out to be too expensive. More balancing will be done to the hoards definitely!