> you must be a citizen of the US to purchase real estate in the US
Why would you want to do that? People want to invest in the United States and give us money, we are instead suppossed to spend money and create a blackmarket to prevent them from doing so at a loss?
> People are living on the streets yet there are empty homes available that aren't for sale and artificially propping up home values in the area
Housing prices are high because government spending on public services that increase the attractiveness of a location subsidizes land ownership whenever these services are paid for using taxes other than taxes on land. The solution is not to ban ownership of land but to tax it.
When government spending is not funded by land taxes, it allows landowners to charge higher rent in response to increased government spending on public services, even if they did not inveset in improving the private property located on the site. With a land value tax, landowners are directly charged for the public services which increase their land value. This means that they have to invest in improving their property if they want to increase their profit, such as by increasing the number of available housing units on the site.
Foreign investors may still buy homes and try to lease them, but they will end up funding the government and public services which only benefit the residents which actually live in the US, and they will be unable to pass on this tax burden to renters.
> Why would you want to do that? People want to invest in the United States and give us money, we are instead suppossed to spend money and create a blackmarket to prevent them from doing so at a loss?
Is this the sort of investment you want? Is this good investment? Driving up the price of housing?
1. Demand is only one factor in the price of housing. Supply is another. Eliminate all density/height/parking restrictions and enforce quality, and only quality regulations and the increase won't be that severe.
2. Don't cap property taxes. Instead use property tax revenues to build cool stuff for the city, among them very wide-ranging, very fast public transit so people can live in suburbs without shitty commutes.
I think general motivating sentiment is that you want people who actually live and work in the area to be able to given a favored chance at owning a place. That may be conducive to growing and solidifying a community.
Why would you want to do that? People want to invest in the United States and give us money, we are instead suppossed to spend money and create a blackmarket to prevent them from doing so at a loss?
> People are living on the streets yet there are empty homes available that aren't for sale and artificially propping up home values in the area
Housing prices are high because government spending on public services that increase the attractiveness of a location subsidizes land ownership whenever these services are paid for using taxes other than taxes on land. The solution is not to ban ownership of land but to tax it.
When government spending is not funded by land taxes, it allows landowners to charge higher rent in response to increased government spending on public services, even if they did not inveset in improving the private property located on the site. With a land value tax, landowners are directly charged for the public services which increase their land value. This means that they have to invest in improving their property if they want to increase their profit, such as by increasing the number of available housing units on the site.
Foreign investors may still buy homes and try to lease them, but they will end up funding the government and public services which only benefit the residents which actually live in the US, and they will be unable to pass on this tax burden to renters.