Price declines for new homes in Vancouver (-0.4%) and Victoria (-0.3%) between July and August were the steepest in the country, Statistics Canada reported October 12.
StatsCan did not reveal exact home prices. Instead, it produced a chart that showed changes in selling prices for new houses that are substantially similar.
Homes in Regina (1.2%), Sudbury (0.9%) and Thunder Bay (0.9%) had the largest increases.
Home builders and realtors criticize the BC Liberal government for not committing to eliminate the 12% harmonized sales tax (HST) and reinstate both the 7% provincial sales tax (PST) and the 5% goods and services tax (GST) sometime in 2012.
Instead, the government has said that the tax, which voters rejected by a 55.73% to 44.27% margin during a summer referendum, might be eliminated in 2013.
ITC Construction Group CEO Doug McFarlane told Business in Vancouver October 12 that people are putting off buying a home until the HST is gone.
“A layman will say, ‘Hey, I may as well wait and save 7%,’” said McFarlane who recently became the head of his nearly 30-year-old Vancouver-based company.
“That’s a terrible thing for the development and construction industry. Homes are a major driver of our economy.”
The HST is applied to new homes valued at more than $525,000 on the portion of the home that is more than $525,000. Existing homes are not subject to the HST.
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom