Property Transfer Tax exemptions - April 1, 2024

by Diana Winger

New 2024 budget measures from the government of BC:

For many, buying a home is the largest purchase they will ever make, and property prices are making it harder. Every little bit helps, and Budget 2024 aims to give people the financial boost they need to bring buying a home within reach, including:

Increases to the threshold for the First Time Homebuyers’ Program so it reflects today’s market:
Qualifying first-time buyers can benefit when they purchase a home worth up to $835,000, with the first $500,000 completely exempt from the property transfer tax. That could mean as much as $8,000 in savings.
An estimated 14,500 people – twice as many as before – will now be eligible for support to buy their first home, helping them move out of the rental market and freeing up rentals for others.
People buying newly built homes worth up to $1.1 million will also see lower costs through the newly-built-home exemption.

To help lower the cost and encourage the construction of more rental units, eligible purpose-built rental buildings of four or more units will also receive a property transfer tax exemption until 2030.

Raising these property transfer tax exemption thresholds and incentivizing building of new rentals and homes will save more people more money, an estimated $100 million per year.

For information on PTT including a calculator, click here.

Property Transfer Tax Exemptions

In principle, BCREA supports reduced property transfer taxes for first-time home buyers and people purchasing newly constructed homes. However, while we're in favour of measures that increase first-time home buyers’ abilities to purchase properties, it's critically important that housing supply is increased so they aren’t caught in bidding wars to acquire those homes. More detail is needed on property transfer tax exemption for purpose-built rentals to understand its impact on housing attainability for British Columbians

Real Estate Lawyer Dylan Taylor explains in these videos how this will work:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5gOHo4LRNd/?igsh=MWs2eXlwcDR4cWMwOA==

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5la6XZLoyZ/