Foreign buyers 1.3 per cent of Metro Vancouver real estate sales since tax
VANCOUVER — The rate of foreign investment in Metro Vancouver housing has fallen to 1.3 per cent since the introduction of a new tax targeting international buyers, according to new data from the British Columbia government.
The drop is dramatic compared with the seven-week period before the tax was introduced when foreign buyers accounted for 13.2 per cent of the residential purchases in the region.
The province brought in the 15-per-cent property transfer tax on foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver on Aug. 2 in an effort to cool one of the hottest housing markets in North America.
“The number of offshore purchasers has dropped dramatically, and that means the pressure on local purchasers, often first-time purchasers, is much reduced,” said cabinet minister Andrew Wilkinson, speaking on behalf of the finance minister on Friday.