Realtors Call On City To Give Homebuyers A Break
February 4, 2008
With the City of Toronto's new land transfer tax coming into effect last week, even as City Council considers a property tax increase, Toronto's realtors are calling on City Council to give hombuyers a break.
Toronto's realtors and the public continue to believe that a Toronto land transfer tax is an unfair way for the City to raise revenue. The City's land transfer tax took effect last week, even as current and future homebuyers face a property tax increase at double the rate of inflation.
The Toronto Real Estate Board's statistics of housing sales have shown an interesting trend since City Council's approval of a Toronto land transfer tax last October. When City Council approved the Toronto land transfer tax, it also decided to exempt home purchases made by December 31, 2007. In both December and November last year, there was a significant increase in market activity. For example, although the month of December typically sees less market activity because of the holidays, in December 2007 housing sales in Toronto were up by 26% over December 2006, significantly higher than the 6% increase for the Greater Toronto Area as a whole.
Clearly, there has been tremendous market activity in Toronto since Council's approval of the land transfer tax. Council's decision to grandfather home purchases made by the end of 2007 means that those homebuyers will avoid the City's tax.
The Toronto Real Estate Board is paying close attention to the City's 2008 operating budget, which proposes a residential property tax increase of 3.75%, almost double the 2007 average Toronto inflation rate of 1.9%.
- The Toronto Real Estate Board
