You're making a lot of assumptions about how a better instanced housing system would work and what it would look like.
Then I think of RIFT Dimensions and what they were like so I know instanced housing can be far better than what you described.
Now I don't honestly expect any new instanced housing in the game to be on the same level as RIFT's but I know it can be much better that what apartments are.
As for what is superior, that depends on what the player wants from housing. Most players are going to consider a system that guarantees them a house of their choosing better than one where they're lucky if they manage to get anything at all.
As Stormpeaks said in their earlier post, time will tell what we end up getting. No doubt there will be some players that will only be satisfied by a ward house but I doubt that number would be as large as you think.
If a new instanced housing system opens the doors to more location options and more customization of the house layout, I absolutely would give up my ward house for an instanced house. Again, I remember RIFT's housing very fondly. It was one of the few memorable things about the game.
Yours is the delusion if you think that what you want is what everyone else wants.
What was that again? I'm online. I don't see your house. I would have to know where your house is and travel to it before I could see it.
In other words, no different from instanced housing.
Again, RIFT Dimensions had it solved. There was a menu with a search function for houses on the same world. Pick the Dimension you wanted to visit and press the Enter button. You were taken directly to it. The owner did not have to be online for it to be available to visit just as apartment owners don't have to be online for you to visit their apartment.
Ultimately, things are in SE's hands. What are they willing to produce for players? We know what they are capable of doing via both the ward housing and apartments. We know what is technically possible based on what other games are doing or have done.
Honestly, that depends on how heavily someone chooses to advertise their house. Discords and the like can reach hundreds or thousands of players who list their houses for viewing.
Most players aren't going to get a lot of visitors because they aren't doing anything to get them. They just want a house to enjoy and don't care to use it to seek attention from others.