I think that the reason why the land is so expensive and takes so long to unlock is because the developers thought that this game would be an additional game for people who are already invested in other The Sims titles.
I noticed this because when I used to play this as my main or rather only game the prices, wait time etc used to bother me but when I actually started playing on my PC after a break of 4 years, I soon realised that TSM is only a time management/waster mini game. The main target audience is people who already have the game on their PC and are obsessed with the franchise. That's why the prices are so ridiculous.
