In the American model, yes. I live in Tel Aviv, where property tax is paid by occupants, not by owners. On the upside, this allows the government to give tax b

In the American model, yes. I live in Tel Aviv, where property tax is paid by occupants, not by owners. On the upside, this allows the government to give tax breaks to protected classes (e.g. the elderly, so that they're not kicked out of the apartment they've lived in and owned for decades just because property tax became unaffordable) directly. On the other hand, the carrying cost for owning real estate in a highly desirable market that you rent out is practically zero, so most apartments are owned by people who inherited them and are uninterested in selling, because a) urban renewal plans will eventually give owners a big financial windfall when their older buildings are chosen to be replaced with subsidized new construction, and the replacement apartment they will receive in the future is worth far more, b) people have children, and there is a huge value to being able to provide your children with housing in a desirable market when they get older, so owners rent their properties out in the interim. Ironically, property taxes paid by renters creates a landed class.