Would the housing market be less crazy if the buying system was a silent auction?

[Skivvy]

That would be better, yes. It wouldn't require people to stand there for hours clicking.

A lottery system would also work, where you get a ticket, and if you win, the money is deducted and you get the house.

I mean, having enough housing would also work. But since we're not getting that...

Oyyyy, I agree. Give housing to all people for the love of all that is holy!! D: Now, wishful thinking aside...

To expand on your idea, I think they would need to make the gil deduct immediately, and that you can only have a max of 3 active lottery tickets open (or whatever arbitrary number they want).

If the gil isn't deducted immediately, there could be the issue of someone winning but no longer having the funds. Also, this would probably help prevent everyone from having the max number of open tickets as that would be (potentially) a lot of gil to put down up front - therefore giving more people a chance.