Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Any Other Major Cities

I have said it before and I shall say it again;

Property taxes is the single largest unidentified threat to property prices and will undermine the housing and commercial property markets.

The reason is simple;

Cash flow appraisal techniques.

Understand what gives an asset (be it a house, a stock or whatever) value is the profits it generates. The cash flow it generates.

That's the ONLY reason any asset has value -because it can generate profits.

If your profits are slowly, but surely eroded away through taxation, you are eroding the one thing that gives the asset value. And ergo why, when the appraiser (or potential buyers) comes by to appraise your house, your rental property or your commercial property and sees property taxes lop off 60% AND INCREASING of your profits the remaining pittance of cash flow will not rationalize a highly valued price.

The ramifications go beyond the poor owner who gets less and less of the rental income.

Imagine what will happen to the bank's collateral.

Banks would be wise to start looking at the municipal government's budgets before accepting certain properties as collateral.

Enjoy the decline!