I mean, it's obvious the housing situation in this game is less than ideal (i.e. terrible) but I personally think the relocation feature is one of the nicer things they've added.

Like you said- the fact of the matter is Shirogane is brand new and exciting with an aesthetic that appeals to a lot of players in this game. You could tack on a 1 million dollar moving fee to relocation instead of the discount and it would still be popular. People are going to want what they want and gil isn't going to deter many.