Scrapping HST May Prove to be a Boom for B.C.'s Realtors
August 27, 2011 Pete Curtis & Tricia Flatley, 660 News
The scrapping of the controversial harmonized sales tax, or HST, in British Columbia could prove to be a bonanza for the province's realtors.
A real estate agent in the East Kootenays, Philip Jones of Royal Lepage
East Kootenay Realty, tells the Calgary Herald the HST had a staggering impact on recreational property sales both in the Kootenays and the Okanagan.
The combined implementation of the B.C.'s provincial sales tax and the federal government GST raised the tax rate on the sale of properties from 5 to 12 per cent.
According to Jones about 80 per cent of the sales of recreational properties in the East Kootenays are to buyers from Alberta. He add one of his agents has 22 buyers from Alberta waiting for tax to be removed.
The head of a real estate investment networks says dumping the tax by British Columbians in a referendum will lead to an increase in demand in the condo market.
Don Campbell of the Real Estate Investment Network predicts a spike in home building over the next 6 to 12 months.