There is always a bad guy; in London it was the Arabs following the oil boom, then it was the Russians, now it is the Chinese. The reality is that many of these properties are actually rented out (to friends) at below market rates - & it is often flight money, bribe money, or money laundered funds making the purchase. Players change, but the asset itself stays; realty fees & higher property taxes are just the cost of doing business.
Locals bitch because they couldn't match the bid, are not the friends getting below market rates, & cant make their case for deferred taxes because of difficulty paying bills (as those rich guys ARE paying, & ON TIME). The fact that locals benefit from the modernized services financed by those property taxes, & higher borrow capacity resulting from rising property values - is conveniently ignored.
You don't need people actually using the place - as Abu Dhabi, & much of Dubai proves. But you have the place, & debt free, because it is an emergency asset that you can use - should you have to flee home with nothing but the shirt on your back. Exiles are routinely created every day.
Taxing is also not the answer (UK). You simply flip the place into a locals name, retain a call option at the purchase price, & agree the annual fee on the option for the next 99 years.
SD