The reason homes are hard to sell here is that they don’t appreciate; the taxes cause them to lose value. Someone who buys a house for $200K with taxes of $7K will be lucky to recover that $200K when they try selling it a few years later with taxes of $10K. When monthly property tax bills approach the level of rent payments, people prefer to just rent instead (and keep their mobility).
Sounds like NJ is approaching the property tax issues of Upstate NY. And yes, I have never understood paying property tax and/or condo fees that approach rental costs.
To me, the property tax lays bare the truth that we are all always just renting anyway—only “owners” tend to have a longer-term option on their places.