[RightWhale]

Driving down the value of property is part of the goal of Socialists

That sounds suspicious. Why would they destroy the tax base and then their schools and prisons would be without funding?

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

As Marx said in Das Kapital, the concept of property is the backbone of Capitalism. Get rid of property and the people essentially work only for "what they need." Not for what they want, not to pass on financial security to their children. Once the people are at that point, they are at the mercy of the government.

If Socialists in this country can't get rid of property outright, one thing they can do is drive down the value of what people own. By doing so, they remove the incentive to own in the first place. What would we then be working for? Only what we "need."

As long as there exist an income tax and/or sales tax, they needn't worry about loss of revenue due to the reduced values of homes. They'll simply increase sales/income taxes as needed. But first, of course, they'll get their tax revenue through the property taxes of the developers and the retail shops that replace the homes. This tax is passed on to the consumer by a higher cost of goods, so it's a de facto hidden tax increase. The Socialists win both ways.