I don’t think synths are too expensive. You pretty much get what you pay for vis-a-vis build quality, materials, complexity etc.
What’s too expensive, in most of the Western world, is rent.
I also think - hate to be that guy - we’re a bit spoilt. Buying a very expensive synth is not hard to justify if you’re buying an instrument that you will master and use for 30 years. But buying new instruments is more immediately rewarding than the slow grind of mastery, so that’s what we do.