Provincial Budget Highlights Relevant to Vancouver Mortgages

Are you curious how the Provincial budget highlights relate to mortgages in Vancouver? Vancouver Mortgage Broker Jessi Johnson shows you.

On Tuesday, Feb 16, 2016, the provincial government outlined the 2016/2017 provincial budget

5 things to know about the 2016/17 provincial budget:

1. Buyers of newly-built homes, condos, and Townhouses worth up to $750,000 will be exempt from the property transfer tax, saving up to $13,000, effective Wednesday (only for Canadian citizens or permanent residents).

2. The new home tax exemption will only apply to people who actually live in the home as their principal residence for a year after the purchase (relatives do not qualify) and B.C. will share information with Revenue Canada to double-check whether the rules are being followed.

3. Homes (both new and used) sold for more than $2 million will see an increased property transfer tax of 3 percent, up from 2 percent. (Basically, the PTT increases 1% for these price points)

4. The existing first-time homebuyers program for used homes remains in place, the threshold remains the same at $475,000.

5. Property buyers will need to disclose their citizenship for government tracking.

Happy shopping!

Jessi Johnson
Vancouver Mortgage Broker