Yes, I would say that housing expenses would need to be some part of any national sales tax plan. Even if the sales tax would only be to replace the income tax, just about everyone pays their rent or their mortgage with after tax (current income tax) dollars. So, tax on your rent or tax on my mortgage would be needed to make up the difference. We are heading back toward taxes that we, as citizens, can't avoid paying. But maybe the shift would be different. Theoretically, the current income tax structure should make it slightly less desirable to have a higher paying job since more of my money will be taxed the more I make. If housing costs were also part of sales tax, would I choose to buy a more modest house to avoid the higher taxes associated. Under the current system, I am actually moderately encouraged to buy a larger, more expensive house since mortgage interest only becomes deductible (or rather, worth deducting) when it is above a certain dollar amount. The whole deductions issue complicates matters further since many of us actually use our mortgage as a kind of income tax shelter currently.
A few sites out there address some of the issues that we are discussing here.
http://www.salestax.org/ suggests a 23% on retail goods and a rebate program for based on family size to offset tax on essential goods. I would guess that this is meant to offset tax paid on housing or possibly groceries, though groceries are not subject to state sales taxes now.