Housing industry observers say Ontario’s surprise move Monday to increase the tax paid by foreign homebuyers to 25 per cent won’t have much effect on the already-cooling market.
Ontario has announced it was raising the non-resident speculation tax on homes purchased by foreign nationals from 20 per cent to 25 per cent.
But while BMO Capital Markets chief economist Douglas Porters says foreign buyers were a big contributor to past market run-ups, he doesn’t think they’ve been responsible for the price and sales increases of the last few years.
Greater Toronto Area broker Daniel Foch says Monday’s hike doesn’t make much sense because the federal government is already on track to ban foreign investors by January 1st.
The Canadian Press
