It&#x27;s even worse in Australia, which most properties do not have a yearly property tax.  So you pay a &#x27;stamp duty&#x27; when you purchase the property, based on a % of the sale price.<p>This means you have people living in Sydney with multi-million dollar properties - which are just modest houses in now-desirable suburbs - who haven&#x27;t paid any property tax since the 60&#x27;s, and who can&#x27;t move anywhere because they&#x27;d be up for so much stamp duty in one hit (easily 50-100k).<p>Furthermore, the state government has unpredictable revenue streams based on the ups and downs of the property market (you can have high prices but low volume) and the labor market is more calcified because people are unlikely to sell and move to access a new job.<p>The result is tightly held real estate, variable state government revenue and ever-higher prices.  Adding fuel to the mess is a universal belief by local governments that housing development is evil and must be curtailed, so they concentrate on high density and infill development, which drives the prices of stand alone property ever higher.<p>Unsurprisingly, Australia just about outpaces Canada for the most severely unaffordable housing market.<p>And yet if you ask the average person in the street, they will blame &#x27;interest rates&#x27; or &#x27;Chinese buyers&#x27;, and not once look at the ridiculous blockage on supply.