North Shore Realty.ca Blog

Simplified, what does the new budget mean for our real estate market?

It is important to note that the First Time Home Buyer PTT exemption for RESALE properties remains unchanged and capped at 475K (sliding scale to 500k).

Property Transfer Tax (PTT)

• a New Housing exemption will apply to newly built homes or newly subdivided units priced up to $750,000, saving buyers up to $13,000; and

• a partial exemption will apply on newly built homes priced $750,000 to $800,000.

• a new 3% PTT rate will apply to the portion of a home sale that exceeds $2 million. For homes that sell for below $2 million, the PTT will continue to apply at a rate of 1% on the first $200,000 and 2% on the balance.

These changes take effect today February 17, 2016. A fabulous surprise for some and a 20k shock for others.

For more information see: Newly Built Home Exemption Details

“While we applaud the government’s efforts to improve affordability for home buyers purchasing new housing, there’s more work to be done, including indexing PTT thresholds to keep pace with changes in home prices over time,” Darcy McLeod, Board president said.

Data Collection

Starting this summer, individuals and corporations buying property must disclose if they are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and if neither, their home country. These changes will provide information on the volume of foreign investment in BC.

The REBGV and its membership have been advocating for this initiative with the Minister of Finance.

Property Taxes - Home Owner Grant

The Home Owner Grant threshold will increase to $1.2 million from $1.1 million for the 2016 tax year.

Affordable Housing

The province will invest $355 million to help the BC Housing Management Commission support more than 2,000 affordable housing units for residents with low-to-moderate incomes.