100% correct. The property tax rate in Vancouver is 0.35%, which is a small fraction of what other cities across North America pay, while income taxes are significantly higher on the middle class. NYC suburbs, for example Weschester, charge 1.93% of assessment, and even in California, property tax is 1.25%. Some Texas counties are 2+%.
In the absence of a reasonably high property tax, like in Vancouver, homes become much more like an expensive savings account. This is especially the case as interest rates falling below 0 in much of the Western world (some banks in Switzerland charge you to put your money there). And day-to-day services like police, schools and ambulatory are paid for by locals through income and sales taxes. UCLA professor says CA could get rid of income taxes through a 3% property tax. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-adv-welch-califor...
My suggestion to reduce property speculation is to reduce income taxes drastically (1/2 to 1/3), raise property taxes to at least 1.5% (5x) and provide basic tax assessment increase controls for owner-occupied dwellings, up to say $1m in value.