[galleywest200]

Taxing second homes would halt construction? Plenty of people out there wish to own a first home, myself included.

[JuniperMesos]

How will that tax result in more houses existing?

[stavros]

It will result in fewer second homes existing, therefore more first homes.

[Cameri]

If you are just looking to massage the numbers so there are more first homes vs second homes percentage-wise without creating new first homes, then taxing luxury second homes may work. It has great potential to change the numbers on a spreadsheet.

Decreasing the number of secondary homes for the wealthy _does not_ create more first homes people can realistically afford though.

[zeroonetwothree]

Perhaps. Homes are not zero sum though so it’s also possible there will be fewer first homes.

[lovich]

How will this tax result in less houses available for people with no primary home existing?

It’s a tax on second homes. If a single person sells due to the tax and someone who had 0 homes previously, it’s spread the scarce housing stock.

Not to say we shouldn’t build more but acting like a tax on multiple homes is going to make houses less available to everyone is ludicrous.

[busterarm]

The cost of construction in _New York City_ generally sets a floor as far as who can afford to pay for it.

The per-apartment cost of construction in Manhattan is more than the retail price of my 3500sq ft house in near-rural South Carolina.

[lovich]

This guy thinks a tax on second homes in fucking NYC is going to disproportionately harm the middle class.

He is economically illiterate.

Edit: scratch that, he also mentioned leaving a rent controlled apartment because of a crabs in a bucket mentality. I think he’s lying to push his own political agenda which appears to be that of the rich never paying taxes.

I’ll lol if he’s some pleb like most of us and is just running defense for his “betters”

[smallmancontrov]

Or economically literate and malicious. Many such cases.

[cybercatgurrl]

many people are convinced on some level that things are the way they have to be for a reason. lots of people internalise capitalism. it’s a way to rectify the cognitive dissonance

[lovich]

It’s nothing to do about capitalism. It’s just being deceitful or ignorant to reality. It’s one of the most expensive areas for land and homes on the planet. Owning multiple units means you are definitionally not in the middle class.

You can be in that cohort and not necessarily be the 1%, 0.1%, etc but you are not the middle.