Reactionary taxes like this have a tendency to be ill-considered and have unintended side effects.

NY also has a 1% penalty on paying more than $1 million for housing, which was probably enacted to proletariat applause when $1 million was still considered a lot of money. Now it distorts the value of entry level housing in NYC, where you'll have a hard time finding anything more than a studio apartment for $1 million. High closing costs and similar distortions mean people tend to lose money on housing in NYC unless it's held for many years.

$5 million is expensive enough that this probably won't add much housing stock in the short term. Still, politicians never seem to think through the consequences of headline-grabbing tax policies.

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braiamp 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Even in worse case scenario, which this isn't, the affected persons would at most try to cheat the system. This proposal is really narrow to non-primary residences, that are also very valuable. None of which will affect 99.999% of the population.

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saulpw 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Gosh, 1% on $1m, that's almost $10k! I can see that how would discourage homeownership and distort the market.

Actually wait, I can't.

	▲	wan23 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		You're comparing the wrong numbers. The question is what 1% of the purchase price does to the amount you need for your down payment and fees. On a 10% down payment an extra 1% increases the amount you need by 10%. Remember that while a million dollar home sounds extravagant, it's first time buyers who often have just barely enough who are trying to buy these.

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8note 42 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> people tend to lose money on housing in NYC unless it's held for many years.

I'd generally consider that a success metric? People making money flipping houses on short terms is a bad thing

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smallmancontrov an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Golly gee willikers, not the spooky potential for possible side effects! Wouldn't want any of those when we could have gigantic sucker-punch scarcity-amid-plenty instead!

	▲	nh23423fefe an hour ago \| parent [-]
		my neighbors have so much they don't deserve, how can i steal their property!

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webdood90 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Who are you protecting here?

You realize a very small subset of the population can afford a million dollar home, let alone a five million dollar home?

The majority of the city does not give a shit.

	▲	giantg2 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		"The majority of the city does not give a shit." Based on the voting, it seems they do give a shit but in the opposite direction.