There have been many changes to the real estate industry not only in our city, but on a national level as well. In the past few months, new programs have been put to the test and we’re still in the talks for other implementations that will affect buyers.
Here are a few key factors that are impacting the real estate market:
- The tax rebate has been doubled to $4000 to help out first time home buyers.
- Ottawa’s largest infrastructure project, the new LRT. How is this impacting surrounding home prices you might ask? Homes near LRT stations will see a price increase of anywhere up to 20%. Especially hot areas such as Hintonburg, Centretown, Downtown and Sandy Hill. Homes in these areas sit on market for an average of 35 days, which is half the days on market of the overall Ottawa area.
- Insurance premiums will be increasing as of March 17th, 2017 for anyone buying a home with a down payment with less than 20%.
- Vancouver implemented the Foreign Buyer’s Tax last year which imposed a 15-per-cent tax on foreign nationals buying real estate in the Vancouver area. This was intended to cool their housing market. Finance Minister Charles Sousa said last year that Ontario would not follow the lead of British Columbia, but last Thursday, the Foreign Buyers Tax has been put back on the table for Ontario and they are now reconsidering it. To determined what the outcome will be..