B.C. to bring in a 15 per cent additional real estate tax on foreign buyers
VICTORIA — Foreign buyers in Vancouver’s scorching real estate market will soon pay a new tax that Premier Christy Clark says is aimed at making housing more affordable for British Columbia’s middle-class buyers.
The government took aim at foreign buyers Monday, highlighting housing data that indicates they spent more than $1 billion on B.C. property in a five-week period starting June 10, with 86 per cent of that spending recorded in the Lower Mainland area.
Clark’s Liberals have signalled for months that change was coming for the real estate industry, tackling unscrupulous sales practises and offering tax incentives to first-time home buyers, but it was previously lukewarm to calls to act on foreign investment.
FURTHER READING: Details on B.C.’s proposed to new 15 per cent tax on foreign home buyers