BC foreign buyer tax | GTAMotorcycle.com

BC foreign buyer tax

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nobbie48

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The 15% property tax for foreigners seems to have cooled the BC market in the short term. It's hard to tell if the drop in sales and prices will continue or if this is just a lull.

Will the buyers move on to the GTA?

Those not familiar with other world cities don't realize what bargains abound in the GTA.
 
Already pushed GTA prices up more than they already were. Bargain and GTA housing aren't usually in the same sentence.
 
Riceburner said:
Already pushed GTA prices up more than they already were. Bargain and GTA housing aren't usually in the same sentence.
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That house in the GTA was a bar... Just a bar no gain.
 
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too little too late
govt allowed this to happen in order to pump up the economy and now they are looking for ways to keep the wheel rolling to collect $$$

btw what's with the stupid 2% tax on people with empty condos...this seems unfair, they paid for the property and what they do with it is their business...why not slap a tax on homes with 2+ people...empty condos do not use services.
 
-D- said:
too little too late
govt allowed this to happen in order to pump up the economy and now they are looking for ways to keep the wheel rolling to collect $$$

btw what's with the stupid 2% tax on people with empty condos...this seems unfair, they paid for the property and what they do with it is their business...why not slap a tax on homes with 2+ people...empty condos do not use services.
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There's a housing shortage in Vancouver, they're trying to incentivize people to rent out unoccupied properties so that people have an affordable place to live.

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giesen said:
There's a housing shortage in Vancouver, they're trying to incentivize people to rent out unoccupied properties so that people have an affordable place to live.

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I am aware of what they are trying to do...seems like lack of planning and now it's panic planning...
Why are you penalizing someone that is doing everything legally...they just have an empty place?

I get the idea behind it (oddly can agree with it)...but it seems wrong.

They have enough land start building affordable housing for people here.
 
The 2% tax on empty properties seems to just be a different form of the 15% on new purchases by foreign buyers. Buyers (before the 15% implementation) from overseas buy the properties, and just let them sit and gain tax free money so the government wants their cut. What's the point of renting it out and risk damage / rent issues if you have the cash that will just sit there and gain yearly.

Personally I think that some buyers will now move to different markets (i.e.: GTA) as the 15% may put them off Vancouver. GTA is still a bargain when compared to world cities but not sure if we can compare T.O. to NY, Paris, London, and the like. GTA may put in their own tax on foreign investment if they see there is $ to be made.
 
I read somewhere just recently that it's already begun - with Vancouver not being appealing anymore sights have been set on the GTA.

I wouldn't be surprised that the cash strapped provincial government tries to jump on the foreign buyer tax bandwagon before the cities get a chance here.
 
A normal Home in Markham is 1.3 million now. Is that even normal?
 
RockerGuy said:
A normal Home in Markham is 1.3 million now. Is that even normal?
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It is now from the looks of it. So long as people keep buying, prices will continue to either rise or at least level off. If the investor market moves East to the GTA then we will see an increase, unless Ontario/Toronto bring in a similar tax to Vancouver. I remember when the Toronto land transfer tax was coming in, there was a rush of people to close before it was implemented, but the doom and gloom never materialized as people just continued to buy even with the 2 land transfer taxes.
 
-D- said:
too little too late
govt allowed this to happen in order to pump up the economy and now they are looking for ways to keep the wheel rolling to collect $$$

btw what's with the stupid 2% tax on people with empty condos...this seems unfair, they paid for the property and what they do with it is their business...why not slap a tax on homes with 2+ people...empty condos do not use services.
Click to expand...

You know the cliche "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

The government version is "If it ain't broke, tax it. If it's broke, tax the repair."
 
The investor move to the GTA already happened, do a title search on thousands of downtown properties , its not local ownership. The Asian purchase of properties in Oakville is so prevalent the agents are studying Asian customs to be more accomodating.
 
The big problem with foreign buyers is they have no real skin in the game. When the market corrects a 10% correction can turn into a 30 or 50% correction. They do not need the property, they panic sell at the first sign of a major correction multiplying the impact. In the end the property is just like a stock for them, bottom looks to be falling SELL SELL SELL. Domestic buyers still need a roof over their heads or if it is income property still want (need) the income. I think 15% is a little heavy handed, maybe 5% would be a little better.

For the 2% empty unit fees. Well there are many issues with empty condos (and houses). New building goes up but a good chunk of the units are foreign investment only and are empty. The businesses that move into the area to service the people that never move in fail (or they just don't move in at all). There is an impact on housing since a certain percentage of the available housing sits empty... There is an impact to the local economy. In the end it is not a bad model, I would just do double property tax to make it simple. Lots of places in the world have higher property tax rates for foreign owners...

In the end, foreign investors are not contributing to the overall income tax and sales tax base. Even though the empty house or condo is not currently using infrastructure the infrastructure needs to be built like it will. These taxes are just another way to make sure they are paying for the overall burden.
 
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nobbie48 said:
The 15% property tax for foreigners seems to have cooled the BC market in the short term. It's hard to tell if the drop in sales and prices will continue or if this is just a lull.

Will the buyers move on to the GTA?

Those not familiar with other world cities don't realize what bargains abound in the GTA.
Click to expand...

It was starting to cool off before the tax was implemented.
 
Vancouver was up 30% aug '15 to '16..... It most certainly wasnt cooling off until the foreign tax talk started.
 
I hope GTA implement this same tax.
 
Air bnb, may be part of the empty condo fees.
Some people are renting out entire places, not just a room.
If there are also no places to lease, then it might be set up to cool down the short term rentals.

Saw a story before, about how the new rules wouldn't affect some players much.
They're basically brokers, who promise a certain ROR to overseas people,
then finance the deal with a bank, using the overseas person's credit,
the oversea's person lists the house as a primary residence,
the guy here pays the mortgage from his own account, pays the ror to the "buyer",
and then pockets the profit when he flips the house.
 
Started to cool off after May... In other words, it tailed off when the writing was on the wall. Everyone knew the province was stepping in by that point.
 
I think it was going to cool off anyway, although not as fast nor as much as it is... the new tax certainly sped up the process and will it push down harder.
 
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