I believe so. Insanity. Google is so proud of this TLD they forgot only they can afford these prices.
Besides, I don't see how host.ing domain can be advantageous when it comes to establishing ranking authority. From what I read, unless you become a complete content authority on a subject, Google isn't necessarily going to push your name up the rankings. Cool bragging rights though.
Did somebody spend a million bucks on a Google domain hack?
The EAP was notable for just how premium the first-week prices were — if you really wanted a quality domain hack for your business, it would cost you well north of $1 million.