They don't normally think through the consequences of this type of policy.
What happens when you're barred from selling it for more than you paid?
The seller will have a price cap but will have hundreds of people who want to buy it.
How do they choose?
Maybe lavish off-the-book gifts, or maybe they choose based on how the person looks, or perhaps they arrange consulting contracts to make up payment afterward.
Would you invest in your house if you knew you couldn't get any return on it? Or would you let it run to shambles?
Imagine you were a landlord renting a unit out and a new law prohibited selling it for more than you bought it. How would that impact your decision to maintain it? Would you spend money on updating the interiors, replacing carpets, putting up new siding, if you planned on selling it within a few years?
Suppose every landlord did this. What would a typical city block start looking like?
That's why any sane person only wants to tax the land because taxing land reduces the value of land and increases the importance of the building on top of the land.
When you tax land people don't suddenly stop producing more land.
Agreed on land tax. High taxes on land helps eliminate empty parking lots and other unproductive uses, and so long as zoning cooperates, encourages density.
What happens when you're barred from selling it for more than you paid?
The seller will have a price cap but will have hundreds of people who want to buy it.
How do they choose?
Maybe lavish off-the-book gifts, or maybe they choose based on how the person looks, or perhaps they arrange consulting contracts to make up payment afterward.
Would you invest in your house if you knew you couldn't get any return on it? Or would you let it run to shambles?
Imagine you were a landlord renting a unit out and a new law prohibited selling it for more than you bought it. How would that impact your decision to maintain it? Would you spend money on updating the interiors, replacing carpets, putting up new siding, if you planned on selling it within a few years?
Suppose every landlord did this. What would a typical city block start looking like?
And so on.