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In many countries, property taxes are local and don't go to schools (which have funding from income taxes i.e. from the state). So it's not like the foreign in

In many countries, property taxes are local and don't go to schools (which have funding from income taxes i.e. from the state). So it's not like the foreign investors are beneficial in any way, besides maybe paying their bit of water/electricity/police costs (and if they only pay their share, then why bother accomodating all the volatility to house prices they bring?)

Taniwha 8y ago
Yes this is true in NZ - property taxes here ("rates") pay for roads, water, street lighting, that sort of thing. Not schools, police, or other stuff done by central govt. Also property taxes here are not tied directly to house valuations - there's a fixed component, plus a component that's calculated from your valuation divided by the sum of the valuations of ALL the properties in the city. That means that if everyone's valuations are doubled your taxes don't change, if your house value goes up faster than the average you do pay more, if it goes up more slowly your taxes go down.
- lancewiggs 8y ago
  To add to that - the valuations include both the land and the property, and they are itemised.