Blogs

The Speculation and Vacancy Tax (SVT) was introduced by the B.C. government in 2018 as part of the plan to address affordable housing. Property owners must make a declaration by March 31, 2020 for their 2019 tax status.

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive is a federal program introduced in the 2019 budget as part of the National Housing Strategy. It is a shared equity mortgage with the Government of Canada, with the goal of reducing your monthly mortgage payment. In the examples provided by CMHC and the scenarios we've run, you can expect your monthly payment to be lowered by $100-$200 versus borrowing the full mortgage amount from a lender. Applications are open as of September 2, 2019.

In the Housing section of Canada's federal budget released on March 19, 2019, the greatest emphasis is on the affordability of housing for first time home buyers. First, the straight-forward news: effective this year, the Home Buyers' Plan that allows Canadians to withdraw funds from their RRSP to buy a home will be increased to a limit of $35,000. If you've been diligent in using this saving product, it could work to your advantage when it's time for your down payment.

The provincial budget originally announced the introduction of a new speculation tax on residential property in BC aimed at property owners – both foreign and domestic – who don't pay taxes to the province. But buried in the "Homes for B.C." housing plan, one of several plain-language documents that accompanied the budget, is the idea that "the Province will also introduce a non-refundable income tax credit which will allow those who pay income tax in B.C. to offset the property tax." This apparent contradiction led many people to ask who exactly will be paying the tax.

Housing was a prominent feature of the 2018 BC Budget, and the BC HOME Partnership loan program will be ending early because of the NDP government's new focus. Originally launched in January 2017, the program offered help to first-time homebuyers with their down payment by providing a matching loan interest-free for the first 5 years.

It probably comes as no surprise to residents of British Columbia – especially those in Vancouver, Victoria and the Fraser Valley – but the province once again has the least affordable homes in Canada. Toronto and Nanaimo round out the top 5, at third and fifth respectively.

There has been a lot of speculation about the impact of foreign property ownership on real estate prices over the past couple of years. In joint research from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Statistics Canada, we can finally see some numbers and what they mean for our local housing market.