Last week the BC Government announced the 2016 Budget for our province, which included several changes to the Property Transfer Tax Act. These changes will affect the property transfer tax Buyers pay when they are looking at purchasing new homes or homes above $2,000,000. See this link for more information on the newly built home exemption and below for some important things to know about the changes:

1.    Changes to the Property Transfer Tax Rate

One of the changes to the Property Transfer Tax Act is a new tax rate of 3% for properties with a fair market value greater than $2,000,000.  The Property Transfer Tax (PTT) is now calculated as follows:

1.    1% of the taxable transaction’s fair market value that does not exceed $200,000.

2.    2% of that fair market value that exceeds $200,000 but does not exceed $2,000,000.

3.    3% of that fair market value that exceeds $2,000,000.

2.    Property Transfer Tax – Newly Built Home Exemption

Another change to the Property Transfer Tax Act is the addition of a new exemption – the Newly Built Home Exemption. Below are some key points to consider:

1.     The exemption applies only to newly built homes.

2.     There is a full exemption for qualifying properties with a fair market value of $750,000 or less and a partial exemption for qualifying properties with a fair market value between $750,000 and $800,000. 

3.     The party claiming the exemption:

   a.     must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

   b.    must use the property as a principal residence.

   c.     does not have to be a first time home buyer.

January saw the highest home sales in 14 years, with 53% higher sales this January compared to the same month last year. There is still a healthy amount of inventory but properties in the Victoria core are in high demand and sell quickly when priced well. See below for the full article from the Victoria Real Estate Board:

Click here for the report on our housing market from Chek News!

An Early Spring for the Victoria Real Estate Market?

February 1, 2016 Victoria BC - The Victoria Real Estate Board today released its report on Multiple Listing Service® real estate activity in the Victoria area for the month of January 2016. 

2016 started with the busiest month of sales in January since 2002. A total of 539 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this January, an increase of 53.6 per cent compared to the 351 properties sold in the same month last year.

Inventory levels are lower than the previous year, with 2,471 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of January, 24.7 per cent fewer than the 3,283 active listings at the end of January 2015.

"Though the ongoing count of properties for sale is low, the number of new listings entering the market is close to what we saw last year," notes Wendy Moreton, 2016 president of the board. "The recent month of January saw 934 new listings, where last year we saw 1,027. The good news for buyers is that there are new properties for sale every day. The good news for sellers is that there appears to be more buyers in the market, so well-priced properties in high demand areas (like the Victoria core) are swift sellers."

"Last year we saw the traditionally busy spring market start early as sales picked up over February and March," adds Moreton. "This year that spring market may be starting even earlier, as our sales numbers for January are close to the numbers we saw last February. We'll watch this trend over the next few months. This busy market is the perfect time to enlist the help of your local REALTOR®. Realtors have access to up-to-date trends for all the different markets across the Greater Victoria area and can best assist buyers and sellers to navigate this exciting market."

The Multiple Listing Service® Home Price Index benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria Core in January, 2015 was $561,600. The benchmark value for the same home in January 2016 has increased by 10.2 per cent to $618,600.