Suggest first-time home buyer tax exemption

The Winnipeg real estate market set an all-time sales record in May, but the realtors association warns that the hot market is beginning to price some people out of the game altogether.

The total dollar value of Winnipeg properties sold last month was about $350 million. That’s the highest total ever for a month in the city, and about a 7% increase compared with May 2010.

There were 1,463 properties that sold in the city last month. Of the detached, single-family homes — Winnipeg’s bread and butter market — 40% were in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, while another 30% each were below $200,000 and above $300,000.

These numbers, while good for the overall market, have started to raise some affordability concerns from WinnipegREALTORS, the association that represents the city’s real estate agents.

“One major concern still remains the falloff in first-time buyer activity relative to the same month last year,” WinnipegREALTORS president Ralph Fyfe said in a prepared statement. “With housing affordability becoming a bigger issue at the lower end of the market, where coming up with the necessary down payment and closing costs is more difficult, it really is time for the province to give serious consideration to offering a first-time home buyer exemption on the land transfer tax.”

The realtors have been making that suggestion for a few years now, as well as lobbying to have the province adjust the brackets for the same tax, which is charged on all property sales and is based on the purchase price. Those efforts have fallen on deaf ears, however, as the province has made no change to the tax structure.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/06/08/hot-home-sales-pricing-some-out-realtors

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