**NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils Revised Budget With Tax on High-Value Non-Resident Second Homes**

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday unveiled a revised $124.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 that includes a new annual tax on non-resident second homes valued at $5 million or more. The measure is projected to generate up to $500 million annually, though the city comptroller suggested a more realistic range of $340 million to $380 million after accounting for behavioral changes.

Mamdani said the budget closes a $12 billion revenue gap inherited from prior administrations without broad property tax increases on most owners.

The proposal is one of several international examples of governments applying higher taxes on non-primary residences. Paris has maintained higher taxes on vacant properties for years. Jacques Baudrier, Paris deputy mayor for housing, said officials hoped at least 20,000 homes would return to the market.

However, a 2025 report by France’s Cour des Comptes found the measures had not produced a significant overall reduction in vacant homes.

Experts reviewing international experience said such taxes typically fall into two categories: recurring surcharges on non-primary residences or one-time transaction taxes. They noted that second homes often represent only around 15 percent of housing stock even in high-concentration areas.

Evidence from Vancouver, London and Paris indicates the policies can raise revenue and reduce vacancy rates in luxury segments but have shown little measurable impact on broader rents or housing prices.

In Brisbane, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner told a Property Council of Australia lunch that Brisbane City Council would vote before the end of June on alterations to low-medium residential zoning that cover about 14 percent of the city. The changes would permit increased building heights, smaller block sizes and fewer parking spaces.

Schrinner said the council would next examine possible changes to medium-density zoning that could also include building height increases.

Council data showed the total number of rental properties in Brisbane had fallen over five years despite an influx of new residents. Schrinner said modelling indicated there were about 14,000 fewer rentals on the market in 2025 than in 2020. He said basing budgets on political expediency rather than supply had produced the current rental shortfall.

Schrinner acknowledged that planning decisions remain controversial. “There will always be a line of people telling us that this will ruin the livability of their area,” he said.

Schrinner said the council now approves more than 8,000 development applications each year and that expanded precinct planning would further increase supply. He said increasing supply remained the only reliable way to stabilise prices. “I am yet to see a city or a nation that has successfully managed to tax their way out of a housing shortage,” he told the audience at the Queen’s Wharf casino on May 13 2026.

Master Builders Queensland criticised the federal tax adjustments. Deputy CEO Michael Hopkins said the negative gearing changes would result in 35,000 fewer new homes nationwide over the next decade, with around 20 percent of those in Queensland. The group welcomed the federal budget’s $2 billion Local Infrastructure Fund to connect utilities for new developments.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has stated the policy would slow price growth without reversing it.

Analysts noted that luxury housing markets tend to operate separately from the broader rental market, limiting spillover effects on affordability for average residents. Revenue projections often prove lower than initial estimates once owners convert properties to rentals, claim them for relatives or sell.