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"Private sector" means exactly what it says. The government does not have to license marriages in order for — as you put it — property ownership and its orderly transfer to occur. As many others on this thread have already pointed out, the purpose of marriage was and is to protect children, mostly, but also women. Until the very recent availability of DNA analysis, marriage and at least the prospect of monogomy was the only way a man could have some guarantee that he was, in fact, the father of the children to whom his wife gave birth. Inheritance laws and customs developed on that basis.

I don't know when government got into the business of licensing marriages, but I'd wager it was in relatively recent times — perhaps the mid-to-late part of the 19th century. Before then, most marriages in most societies were based in religious and cultural traditions, i.e., the private sector.

As many others on this thread have already pointed out, the purpose of marriage was and is to protect children, mostly, but also women.

It is also the method of preserving the values of the society and passing those values on to the children. It is the only reasonable way short of the "Brave New World." Without traditional marriage our society will collapse. Another society will take its place. I doubt it will be good.

Shalom.