B.C.’s foreign ownership tax led to sky-rocketing price growth in exempt cities like Kamloops: TRU study
KAMLOOPS — A study from Thompson Rivers University shows Kamloops’ housing prices have continued to skyrocket since 2016 when the B.C. government implemented a Property Transfer Tax on foreign entities buying property.
Additionally, findings from Dr. Jabed Tomal of TRU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics and Dr. Hafiz Rahman of the Department of Economics shows Kamloops was impacted when the city wasn’t included in the B.C. government’s extension of the foreign property tax in February, 2018.
Tomal and Rahman compared housing prices in Kamloops to Chilliwack since 2016, when Metro Vancouver’s foreign property tax was implemented and caused sudden rapid housing pricing increases in other communities, and 2018 when other regions – which included Chilliwack but not Kamloops – were included. The extended foreign buyers tax included the Capital Regional District, Fraser Valley Regional District, Metro Vancouver Regional District, Regional District of Central Okanagan and Regional District of Nanaimo.
Studies shows Chilliwack’s housing prices stabilize – albeit not lowering – after the expansion, while Kamloops continues to grow in a linear line.
