I got the impression they wouldn't be opening the housing antil an hour after the maintenance ends. That will stop those getting stuck in the login queue with 1000+ people ahead of them and everything being gone while they spent 30 mins in the queue. No doubt it will also still disappear fast, but at least the login queue won't be a factor (and not everyone logging in is interested in a house, plenty are stuck waiting 20-30 mins to log in right after every patch is released, housing or not).