Karel Palla & Darryl Sjerven

BC budget includes new real estate taxes and spending commitments

Housing was the dominant issue in yesterday's provincial budget.

The government released a 30-point housing strategy aimed at reducing housing demand, curbing tax fraud, building affordable housing, and increasing security for renters. 

New tax measures include increasing property taxes and property transfer taxes on residential properties valued above $3 million, expanding the foreign buyer tax, and implementing a housing speculation tax.

The budget introduces new taxes, hints at future taxes, and hikes existing taxes on housing. 

Below is a summary of the key real estate measures announced yesterday. There’s considerable information to go through.

Affordable housing

• The province is investing $6 billion in affordable housing to create 114,000 homes over the next 10 years.
• The province will enhance local government capacity to build and retain affordable housing.
• The province will require developers to collect...

Home buyer demand depends on property type 

Attached and apartment homes are in demand across Metro Vancouver while detached home buyers are facing less competition today.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 1,818 in January 2018, a 19.4 per cent increase from the 1,523 sales recorded in January 2017, and a 9.8 per cent decrease compared to December 2017 when 2,016 homes sold.

Last month’s sales were 7.1 per cent above the 10-year January sales average. By property type, detached sales were down 24.8 per cent from the 10-year January average, attached sales increased 14.3 per cent and apartment sales were up 31.6 per cent over the same period.

“Demand remains elevated and listings scarce in the attached and apartment markets across Metro Vancouver,” Jill Oudil, REBGV president said. “Buyers in the detached market are facing less competition and have much more selection to choose. For detached...