[magicalhippo]

Here in Norway non-primary residences were taxed higher but not very much. They've changed that in recent years, so now you get taxed about 100%. However here it's not (just) capital gains, it's wealth, so you pay a percentage of what the estimated street price is for the place each year.

The result is that in the last couple of years landlords have gotten rid of many rental units. This primarily affected smaller apartments, and surprise surprise, those prices have remained flat while the rest has increased.

On the other hand, sucks if you for some reason need to rent, because now there's just a few rental units out there and they're now expensive.

[brailsafe]

Early in my adulthood, the balance of rent vs buy was closer, and renting was either the choice for someone without much money, or you paid a premium for the convenience of renting, but otherwise the cost of borrowing for the same place was much more similar to the rent cost. I didn't have any interest in buying, not just because I didn't have the money yet, but because I didn't see any value in owning over renting. I still don't see much value in owning, but now it's nearly impossible, and rents are half of cost ownership.