B.C.’s property transfer tax is on the rise

Homes, like the infamous $2.5 million Point Grey teardown, will now be a little more expensive.

B.C.’s property transfer tax—the fee purchasers pay the government when to change the name on the title—is going up

Effective immediately, buyers who pay more than $3 million for a piece of property will have to also pay a three per cent fee to the government, up from two per cent, due to a change in the rules introduced in yesterday’s budget. The new rules apply to both commercial and residential real estate. 

The changes also include a new exemption, effective immediately: new condos and houses that sell for up to $750,000 are exempt from paying the property transfer tax. The government has an explainer on who pays, and who doesn’t, here.

Even with this new exemption, the property transfer tax will continue to provide a massive windfall for the province: in this fiscal year alone the government expects to take in $1.49 billion. While the budget forecasts a 16.8 per cent drop in revenues from the tax (it’s predicting a cool-down in the market), the effervescent real estate market looks like it will undergird the province’s coffers for some time.

You can read more about the property transfer tax, and how it compares to Ontario and Quebec, here.