[AnthonyMouse]

> Is there any realistic path (even a very optimistic one) towards the Japanese model of house-as-depreciating-asset in the US?

One path toward that would be to eliminate property taxes. Governments want high housing costs because it increases property tax revenues. Take that off the table by generating the revenue some other way and it becomes a lot easier to pass policies to reduce housing costs. Meanwhile you throw the homeowners a bone, because even though their house isn't appreciating anymore, that's offset by all the property tax they no longer have to pay.

[legolas2412]

I don't think that's true. Building more houses would also definitely increase property taxes, but the government is not doing that.

Currently, people are already spending a really big part of their incomes on rent, and hence property. It is not possible that they'll spend any more.

[AnthonyMouse]

Building more houses increases property tax revenues, but it doesn't increase them per capita because now you have more people. The government's costs are per capita, so that doesn't help them.

By contrast, increasing property values generates more revenue per capita, so property tax gives the government a perverse incentive to increase housing costs.

[alpha_squared]

How do you fund all the programs currently funded by property tax? Not the least of which is local public education.

[AnthonyMouse]

By using other taxes, like income tax or VAT. The point isn't inherently to change the amount of government revenue, only to shift where it comes from so that existing property owners don't revolt when they paid a certain amount for a property expecting it to appreciate and then it doesn't without anything to offset it.