If you're a speculator, you'll buy it wherever the expected profit, after taking out all expenses, is the highest. If the tax is high in a location where they

If you're a speculator, you'll buy it wherever the expected profit, after taking out all expenses, is the highest. If the tax is high in a location where they think they can flip the house for a 50% gain in a few years that's still better profit than a lower tax in a place where they'll gain 5% in a few years. So the property tax doesn't, all by itself, matter to the speculator. It's just a cost of doing business. A high property tax does, however, hurt the person who just wants a house to live in it and doesn't care about being a speculator.