{"id":20609,"date":"2016-05-14T10:41:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T15:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=20609"},"modified":"2016-05-14T10:41:28","modified_gmt":"2016-05-14T15:41:28","slug":"house-flipping-tax-could-curb-speculative-foreign-money-cibc-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=20609","title":{"rendered":"House flipping tax could curb speculative foreign money, CIBC says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House flipping tax could curb speculative foreign money, CIBC says<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Tax on home flippers may be helpful, but most foreign investors are likely legitimate, Benjamin Tal says<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Canada<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Canada lacks concrete data on the level of foreign investment in the country’s housing market, experts say. (Daniel Acker\/Bloomberg)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Canada may consider a tax on foreign investors flipping Canadian homes for a quick profit, Benjamin Tal says, but overall the economist at CIBC says there’s no evidence that type of activity is a big problem in Canadian real estate.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In a report Friday, Tal delved into a topic that is currently a major focus of policymakers: the impact of foreign investment on Canadian home prices.<\/p>\n

There is a perception in some quarters<\/a>\u00a0that a major cause of high house prices in Canadian cities such as Toronto and Vancouver is foreign investors. Specifically,\u00a0it has been alleged that foreign money is flooding into real estate<\/a>\u00a0in those two places, and pushing prices out of reach for those who actually live there.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, hard data on foreign money is hard to come by, as Canada does not yet reliably track such information \u2014 although\u00a0recent steps from B.C. to track residency info of buyers<\/a>\u00a0is a step in that direction.<\/p>\n

Canada’s national housing agency,\u00a0the CMHC, says it is trying to collect more information<\/a>\u00a0on the topic, and\u00a0Statistics Canada was earmarked half a million dollars<\/a>\u00a0in the recent federal budget to beef up its data collection on the housing market.<\/p>\n

In the report, Tal draws a distinct line between foreign money where the buyer has an actual foothold in Canada, and speculative investments where the buyer has no incentive other than a financial interest.<\/p>\n