Greater Vancouver Real Estate Market Update March 2012
On February 21st, the BC government announced the 2012/13 Provincial Budget.
On February 21st, the BC government announced the 2012/13 Provincial Budget.
Every sector of the economy needs certainty to function efficiently and real estate is no exception. The recent HST debacle has affected real estate more than any other sector.
The province will transition back to the Provincial Sales Tax (PST), which will replace the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), on April 1, 2013. Until then, the province has announced transitional rules for new homes which take effect April 1, 2012.
The provincial portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax is about to drop to two per cent on all new homes sold for $850,000 or less, a move widely praised by those in the beleaguered home building industry.
New housing transition measures give certainty to an important economic sector and help to keep taxes equitable throughout the transition as the province returns to the PST
Consumers looking to buy a new home in the middle of the transition between the harmonized sales tax and the provincial sales tax will have answers on Friday about what their tax bill will look like.
Metro Vancouver’s new home industry is hurting badly over the absence of any transition rules to the return of the provincial sales tax since the harmonized sales tax was defeated in a referendum Aug. 26, three property experts to The Vancouver Board of Trade Friday.