New housing affordability measures announced in BC Budget 2016
For immediate release
Burnaby, British Columbia (February 16, 2016) - Effective February 17, the purchase of a qualifying new housing unit valued at up to $750,000 will be exempt from the Property Transfer Tax (PTT).
The cost of this measure will be offset by adding a third tier to the property transfer tax rate at 3 per cent on the portion of the fair market value over $2 million. The PTT had previously been applied as 1 per cent on the first $200,000 of the property market value and 2 per cent on the remainder.
"We have advocated that changes to the property transfer tax structure are long overdue and that B.C. home buyers deserve a reduction in taxes on housing," says CHBA BC CEO Neil Moody. "We are pleased to see the provincial government eliminate the PTT on new housing units up to $750,000."
Canadian residents and permanent residents who purchase their principal residence and live in the unit for a full year will be exempt from the PTT on newly built homes up to $750,000. This exemption is predicted to save the purchaser up to $13,000, and provides an estimated $75 million in property transfer tax relief for new construction in 2016-17.