Housing prices have increased 33 percent compared to the previous year in Toronto, and now the provincial government is snapping into action.
"[Ontario] Premier Kathleen Wynne is slapping a 15 per cent 'non-resident speculation' tax on foreign investors to help cool down southern Ontario’s scorching real estate market," reports Robert Benzie.
The 15 percent surcharge on offshore speculators is just one component of what Benzie describes as a "massive plan to improve housing affordability." Other proposals include a "clampdown on domestic housing speculators," improved transparency on the bidding war that have driven up prices, and rent control. The government of Ontario has created a website to explain the Fair Housing Plan in more detail.
In a separate article, Bezie provides more details on the 15 percent surcharge on offshore speculators.
FULL STORY: Wynne to slap 15 per cent tax on foreign real estate speculators
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Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
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