Anthony Riglietti - Expert Realtor & Listing Specialist in North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby and the rest of Metro Vancouver Real Estate

BC Government introduces new Speculation tax

Posted on Nov 14, 2018 in Real Estate News and Notes

Premier John Horgan and the BC government brought in a new Speculation Tax to help deal with the housing crisis in certain parts of the province. This tax is aimed at people who own homes but aren’t actually living in them or renting them out for most of the year. The idea is to make sure homes in BC are being used to house people who live here, no...

New Stress Test for Conventional Mortgages

Posted on Jan 04, 2018 in Real Estate News and Notes

Starting now, a new 2% stress test applies to conventional mortgages (those with at least 20% down). This follows a similar rule already in place for high-ratio borrowers (less then 20% down) since 2016. The idea is simple: make sure buyers can handle their mortgage payments if rates go up, protecting both the borrower and the overall housing marke...

Vancouver's announces Empty Home Tax (EHT)

Posted on Dec 14, 2016 in Real Estate News and Notes

In a city with serious housing challenges, Vancouver introduced the Empty Home Tax to start next month (January 2017) to address the shortage of rental properties. This made Vancouver the first city in Canada to impose a tax on vacant homes. The goal? To get more rental units on the market by encouraging owners not to leave their homes empty.

What I...

New Stress Test for High Ratio Financing: What It Means for Buyers

Posted on Nov 02, 2016 in Real Estate News and Notes

The federal government introduced a new mortgage stress test for high ratio financing, which applies to homebuyers putting down less than 20% of the purchase price. This stress test requires that buyers qualify at an interest rate that is 2% higher than their actual mortgage rate or at the Bank of Canada’s benchmark rate—whichever is greater. This...

Foreign Buyers Tax Announced

Posted on Aug 24, 2016 in Real Estate News and Notes

Last month, the BC government made a bold move to address the rapidly raising home prices in the Greater Vancouver area. With public pressure mounting over affordability concerns, they introduced a 15% Foreign Buyers Tax on properties purchased by non-Canadian residents. This policy aims to curb foreign investment that many believe is driving up ho...

Increased Property Transfer Tax (PTT)

Posted on Feb 29, 2016 in Real Estate News and Notes

Earlier this month, the BC government introduced a significant change to the Property Transfer Tax (PTT) in an effort to cool down the rapidly rising prices in Vancouver's high-end housing market. The tax rate on properties valued at over $2,000,000 was increased from 2% to 3%. This move was part of a broader initiative to make the market a bit mor...