Vancouver slaps 15% tax on foreign home buyers

[M II A II R II K]

Vancouver slaps 15% tax on foreign home buyers


July 25, 2016

By Kim Mackrael

Read More: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/van...ers-2016-07-25

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The new tax legislation comes amid growing concerns about skyrocketing prices in housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto, and the role that foreign buyers may be playing. Some real estate officials say Chinese buyers, in particular, have helped fuel price increases for high-end Vancouver homes.

- The benchmark price for a detached Vancouver home increased 38.7% to nearly 1.6 million Canadian dollars ($1.2 million) in June from a year earlier, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Based on homes of that value, a foreign buyer would have to pay an extra C$240,000 under the new tax law. --- The new tax, which is to take effect on Aug. 2, will apply to foreign corporations and individuals buying residential properties in Vancouver. It is in addition to the province's general property transfer tax, the B.C. government said in a statement on Monday.

- The province will also allow the City of Vancouver to impose an annual vacancy tax on some residential properties that are left uninhabited. --- Canada's federal government said earlier this year that it would help fund an effort to collect data on the role of foreign buyers in the country's housing markets, which officials have acknowledged isn't well understood. Separately, Ottawa has taken steps in recent years to limit risky borrowing, including a move to increase the minimum down payment required for more expensive homes.

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[pdxtex]

heh. that's about 15 years too late....."Canada's federal government (which pimped out its own provinces to foreign nationals) said earlier this year that it would help fund an effort to collect data on the role of foreign buyers in the country's housing markets, which officials have acknowledged isn't well understood. "............priceless......