> But what would really be good is if we could stop using housing as investments that drive the prices of homes higher via inflationary mechanisms so that the prices of homes remain more stable over longer periods of time.

Housing only becomes a good investment if supply is sufficiently limited such that demand can't be met. NIMBYism and decades of artificially low interest rates are mostly to blame here, although I agree that in the short-term, penalties on speculation can help keep costs in line.

> In a better system, property taxes should be relegated to the dustbin because it turns property ownership into property leasing which is antithetical to the idea of private property.

I disagree 100%. Protecting property costs money, and the government is in charge of protecting your property rights. It seems perfectly reasonable that you should have to pay a fee proportional to the value of the property as an "insurance" against its loss.