Real Estate News

The head of LandlordBC expects some homeowners will start renting out their properties to avoid the province’s new speculation tax, but says it’s too soon to estimate the extent of its impact.

If one goal of the B.C. government’s new housing taxation policies was to cool home sales in the province, it has likely succeeded, if the results of a new poll of real estate agents are anything to go by.

This massive, resort-style “Tuscan villa” in Surrey raised eyebrows and hit media headlines last summer with its record-breaking listing price of $28 million, 10 times its assessed value – later adjusted to $26 million and did not sell at the time.

Changes to the proposed B.C. speculation tax , announced by finance minister Carole James yesterday following a backlash from owners, have been broadly welcomed – but do not go far enough, according to industry groups.

A decline in Toronto’s rental prices may have put Vancouver back on top as Canada’s priciest city for one-bedroom rents, but prices have declined in all the top five most expensive rental cities.

Under changes to the proposed speculation tax, B.C. residents will now only have to pay 0.5 per cent a year on second homes valued at $400,000 or above, finance minister Carole James announced in a media conference March 26. The tax will apply to B.

The B.C. NDP government is responding to the backlash from B.C. home owners against the speculation tax, and will have an update on its details within days, Premier John Horgan announced March 21.

After years of Metro Vancouver leading the country in terms of soaring detached home sales, the recent softening of that market has paved the way for a boom in Montréal, according to a report published March 21.

Canada is a hugely diverse country – and so are its real estate markets. The Lower Mainland and Greater Toronto are notoriously expensive, while some areas are still extremely affordable – even if you’re on a single-person income.

Having a lodger living in the spare bedroom is a phenomenon that I am very familiar with, having grown up in the U.K. where such arrangements are common.