Last week, President Charles Wiebe talked to Business in Vancouver and discussed the current market and how the Metro Vancouver foreign buyers’ tax has negatively impacted some clients in our region.
Touching on the current pace of the Fraser Valley housing market, and comparing it to earlier this year, President Wiebe said that:
“There’s no doubt looking at our sales today compared to where they were at the early part of the year, it appears quite dramatic. But when we compare our sales here from September to this point in October, we’re really at the average that we’ve had over the last 10 years – both in the number of sales and listings coming onto the marketplace.”
In regards to the foreign-buyer tax introduced in August, it was brought up that many foreign buyers in the Fraser Valley had trouble compensating for the increase in investment.
“There were some foreign buyers [in the Fraser Valley] who could barely come up with the money to qualify to begin with. People who were already working in the communities, who were sought out to come to our communities because of their skills. People who have come to the community who are paying taxes and buying goods and services. I don’t understand how they’re already contributing, but they also have to pay the tax?”
To read the full article on the Business In Vancouver website, click here.