The planned referendum on sales tax harmonization in B.C. can’t come too soon for some, but home builders say the year’s delay will allow voters to better weigh the merits of the tax.
And yes, there are merits, as accountants and bookkeepers will quickly tell you. A harmonized sales tax (HST) cuts the administrative burden on companies even as it raises up-front costs on many items.
It’s something Bob Deeks, owner of RDC Fine Homes Inc. in Whistler and president of Canadian Home Builders Association-B.C., hears, and he expects the HST will have long-term benefits for businesses.
It’s also why he believes the referendum a year from now will be a good thing.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for British Columbians to really evaluate the impact of the HST and make an educated decision,” he said, noting that there’s a lot of hearsay and misinformation muddying the debate. “There has been a lot of fear-mongering, and it gives us a chance to evaluate both the benefits and downfalls of what the HST brings to us.”
Cameron Muir, chief economist with the B.C. Real Estate Association, said real estate doesn’t feel the same impact as other sectors because new homes under $525,000 have the tax rebated while resale homes are exempt. Any benefits to developers and builders won’t appear immediately, either.
“The economic benefits, again, are more downstream. They’re not going to be realized two months after its implementation,” he said.
On the other hand, Deeks says he’s probably lost a couple of renovation clients because of the tax. While work deferred on account of the Olympics is allowing him to have a stellar year, work lost to the underground economy is a concern.
“Although we are very busy, I do feel that we are losing some business to the underground where some people are becoming very competitive by directing people to pay cash and avoid the 12%,” Deeks said. “Is this a sign of things to come?”
Anthem Properties Group plans for a $24 million commercial centre at the corner of highways 10 and 15 illustrate Cloverdale’s buoyant market.
While there are several bright spots in the Fraser Valley’s residential real estate market, the Cloverdale area has shown strong growth in recent years. This has boosted the market for additional development, such as the retail complex Anthem proposes. While other areas have shown more significant appreciation, such as Fraser Heights and Cedar Hills, the sustained appreciation in Cloverdale points to the area’s desirability.
The most recent statistics from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board pegs the benchmark home price in Cloverdale at $550,874, well above the municipal benchmark of $519,943. That’s up 6.3% versus three years ago, the biggest gain of any area of Surrey and an indicator of the market’s strength in uncertain times.
In the three years prior to December 2007, Cloverdale’s benchmark price rose 45.2%.
Greening up business runs in the family for Sayo Nickerson of Re/max Real Estate Services in Vancouver. Nickerson’s grandmother was an early member of the BC Green Party, established in 1983, and Nickerson has followed her foremother’s footsteps in giving 10% of her net revenue to one of three environmental organizations – EcoJustice Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation and Western Canada Wilderness Committee – since 2007. Christina Schroeder, office manager for Team Vrba Nickerson, said contributions have totalled approximately $57,000.
Nickerson, primarily active on Vancouver’s East Side, was out of the country last week, but Schroeder said the move reflected a growing trend in the real estate sector.
“There’s lots of green realtors out there who either have their office run in a green way or they donate money,” she said. “Real estate agents make a nice living, and she just wanted to give back.”
While there’s been a slight marketing advantage thus far as people have recognized the initiative, Schroeder said it hasn’t increased business significantly. Bob Rennie lent a higher profile to green marketing and sales with the launch of a special division of Rennie Marketing Systems in spring 2007 to market Millennium Water and other environment-friendly projects.