It absolutely does not cost the same, more expensive real estate means you have to pay people significantly more on average to do jobs (nobody is interested in

It absolutely does not cost the same, more expensive real estate means you have to pay people significantly more on average to do jobs (nobody is interested in working jobs that cant make rent), it also means more expensive land purchases and easements for public works projects. Taxes arent meerly defered until sale, they are allowed to rise to market value after the sale is complete, but the government never gets those years of back taxes they would have gotten otherwise.