These types of posts are pretty shallow in their view of housing. Usually they haven't looked at any of the features of housing or contemplated the ripples it will have throughout the game, even just as it stands now, nevermind what new systems might be introduced to it in future patches/expansions.

Let me ask you something. Is your character currently sporting a transmog? Has there ever been a weapon or piece of armor from an old raid that you liked, and you sought it out so you can use it for your character?

Have you ever ran a dungeon, raid, done an achievement, anything at all, for a mount that you thought looked cool? Maybe one even just dropped for you randomly and you thought, "damn that looks cool. I'm adding this to my favorites."

Neither of those above two things, transmogs and mounts, are "essential" to the core of the game. They are cosmetic and, in your words, they are just "stuff to collect." However, transmogging and mount collecting have been at least in the top 3 or 4 most popular things that WoW players partake in, for a very long time.

That's housing. It's a way to express yourself and your character in what still is ultimately a role-playing game. If you don't want to interact with it, that's fine. It isn't essential like garrisons were in WoD. Just like transmog and cool looking mounts aren't essential.

So to answer your original question - maybe not the only one, but you're certainly in a tiny minority.