Sorry to jump into this discussion so late, but are run on the mill Martins really that expensive ? ( by run of the mill, I mean standard series down and at a push the vintage series guitars ).
We have to start with the premise that everything is relative, and there is always someone who can refer to a great sounding Yamaha etc. which cost a fraction of the price of perceieved high end brand guitars ( experience has shown me that there are plenty of guitars out there that justify this claim ), however, Martins, as good as they can be, are now just one of a number of high output manufacturers within the same general price bracket.
Where Martin do struggle to compete and justify their prices, is at the higher end of their range, especially when compared with the plethora of smaller output operations ( Collings and Santa Cruz to mention but two US buiders, plus some great builders outside the USA. take Fylde and Lowden as examples, offering custom designs in beautiful master grade woods
Beyond this group is a mass of very special small shop, single luthier operations who can offer incredible attention to detail and some remarkable guitars.
Within these two latter catergories are instruments that bring Martin's general output down into the mid range of acoustic guitar pricing ( I said everything was relative ).
At the end of the day, whether or not something can be conceived as expensive or not is down the value that the potential purchaser places upon the item in question. If someone has always dreamt of owning a D28 or a 00028, the current prices make this as reasonable a possiblilty as it has ever been.