>Residential REITs perhaps shouldn't exist, as residences typically aren't directly economically productive.
Residential REITs and other institutional investors finance the construction of new apartment complexes. I don't think a landlord is that much more incentivized to take care of their property any more than a property manager who gets hired by the REIT or institution. Even if small landlords are better than REITs, I don't think that people who own 2-10 homes are necessarily any more productive landowners than institutional investors. There are plenty of people in the former category besides landlords: for example, someone buys a seasonal home that does nothing for most of the year or inherited property and are just letting it sit vacant.
>I don't follow your assertion that increasing taxes on larger ownerships would result in rich people buying the biggest property they could possibly afford. People do that anyway?
The point is to disincentivize this behavior? Same reason why you would increase property taxes/LVT in the first place. I'm not saying that institutional investing in property is great. I'm saying that there are worse behaviors that should also be punished. This is a particularly big problem in vacation destinations where the housing supply gets swallowed by non-residents.
Residential REITs and other institutional investors finance the construction of new apartment complexes. I don't think a landlord is that much more incentivized to take care of their property any more than a property manager who gets hired by the REIT or institution. Even if small landlords are better than REITs, I don't think that people who own 2-10 homes are necessarily any more productive landowners than institutional investors. There are plenty of people in the former category besides landlords: for example, someone buys a seasonal home that does nothing for most of the year or inherited property and are just letting it sit vacant.
>I don't follow your assertion that increasing taxes on larger ownerships would result in rich people buying the biggest property they could possibly afford. People do that anyway?
The point is to disincentivize this behavior? Same reason why you would increase property taxes/LVT in the first place. I'm not saying that institutional investing in property is great. I'm saying that there are worse behaviors that should also be punished. This is a particularly big problem in vacation destinations where the housing supply gets swallowed by non-residents.