Housing affordability and the Hated Sales Tax

May 31, 2010 — Jennifer

Worried about the HST coming soon? Here are some information that may interest you.

New tax likely will drive deeper the underground home-reno economy, observes Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association CEO

HST, OMG! Can you believe how this thorny issue -day after day after day -continues to dominate the news and commentary? It certainly has hit a raw nerve with many thousands of British Columbians.

Actually, HST has been under my skin since March 2009, when Ontario announced it had inked a $4.3-billion tax harmonization deal with the feds. I figured then, what with B.C.’s budget challenges and all, it would only be a matter of time until this province jumps aboard the HST bandwagon.

We all know what happened. On July 23, 2009, the B.C. government, without consultation, announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government on HST implementation. In exchange, B.C. was promised $1.6 billion. The firestorm of criticism and accusations has been relentless ever since…

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Posted by: By Peter Simpson, Vancouver Sun
Date: May 29, 2010

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UPDATE 2-Canada home resale price index up, no crash seen

May 31, 2010 — Jennifer

* Month-on-month price rise of 0.3 percent in March

* Prices in four out of six metropolitan markets rise

* Group says home market not headed for U.S.-style crash (Adds Canadian Real Estate Association report)

TORONTO, May 26 (Reuters) – Canadian home resale prices climbed in March for an 11th straight month, but the gain was one of the smallest since prices began rising last year, according to a report on Wednesday.

The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which measures price changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed overall prices rose 0.3 percent in March from February.

“The broad slowing of monthly gains is consistent with a general loosening of resale-market conditions across the country. For some months now, homes have been coming on the market faster than they have been selling,” the report said.

March’s gain was only a tick ahead of February’s 0.2 percent increase, which was the smallest monthly gain since the end of a recession-induced price slump…

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Posted by: Reuters
Date: Wed May 26, 2010

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