It’s now been two weeks since BC’s new foreign buyers’ tax came into effect. Along with BCREA and REBGV, we continue to voice our strong concerns to the government on the negative impact of the Metro Vancouver tax on our clients and the housing market.
As we told them, we’re angry. As a profession, we were not consulted. Our requests to meet immediately after the tax came out were ignored. We are genuinely concerned for the well-being of our clients and will not stop communicating with them until they address our concerns.
This eMemo is to ask you to help us continue to put the pressure on. You may be thinking it’s too late. It’s not. It’s not uncommon for governments to amend legislation after the fact, but they’ll only do so with sufficient pressure and proof of impact.
Since August 2, our Board has tracked double the number of collapsed sales compared to the same period in July. Yes, the numbers remain small, however given what we’re hearing from Brokers, we believe they will continue to grow and the full impact won’t be known for months, which is why we must keep communicating to our elected officials.
We’ve sent letters; we’ve phoned; we’ve emailed; we’ve also been cc’d on many excellent letters sent by members. If you haven’t already, please consider writing your MLA – or personalize the sample letter attached – and email or mail it in. Again, we’re providing you with an MLA contact list.
The only way our industry can affect change is to work together and deliver consistent, strong messages about our level of frustration and concern for British Columbians. Even if the government continues to choose to ignore us, we will keep at it, because it’s the right thing to do.
Please join us in the call to action. Let’s ensure our voices are heard.
Charles Wiebe
FVREB President