I'm one of the few crazy people who made a one-man FC just to buy a house(and succesfully so). But I have to agree that housing as it is now is a joke. In all honesty though, pricing isn't and shouldn't be a big issue. But the problem comes from low availability on housing. We find it a lot because we need to gather a large amount for something we may or may not be able to buy. Which makes the entire thing feel pointless.

If S-E would have given everyone an instanced plot of land and went "Here's something for you. It's empty but if you gather 5 million you can buy a house. And add gil for further expansions like a chocobo stable, larger house and so on."
This would have created a long term commitment that anyone can do at their own leiserly pace. Large sums of money don't bother me, especially for something you'll have for the entire game. (Unlike how the current housing system is. Don't play for a long time and say bye-bye to your house.)