You can't create demand by government fiat. People aren't living in rural Japan or Missouri because nobody wants to live there, for a littany of reasons of which the direct financial cost of home ownership is but one.
The external value of the location should not be heavily capitalized into the sales price regardless of the amenities of the location. When someone asks $400,000 for a building which costs $200,000 to replace, the buyers are likely to build a new building next door for cheaper unless the land is impossible to acquire or being held off the market at high prices. The duration which private owners are allowed to hold vacant land off the market and hold out for higher prices is ultimate determined by public financial policy.