Not only has it been true historically - there's a real reason to allow it: it incentivizes owners to maintain and improve their properties. Further... maintenance of that property requires investment, both in time and labor. If you make it so that owners have no reward or incentive for improving their properties, they WON'T DO IT.
Why invest money into fixing your place if the price of the house is capped anyways? Trying to prevent this style of investment has almost always failed, and generally makes neighborhoods that are nice/attractive places to live much less nice and attractive - because people stop maintaining and improving them.
I think the real question right now that needs to be answered is: Why are we not able to create new urban areas in low cost areas? What has changed so that we no longer create towns?
Because frankly - right now the issue isn't housing, it's housing in areas where economic opportunities exist. Why are economic opportunities so exclusive to high population centers? What can we do to change that?
