Toronto remains Ontario’s premier attraction for foreign home buyers—report

Newly released data from the Ontario government showed that half of real estate transactions involving a foreign buyer in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region took place in Toronto the month after the province introduced a new tax on non-residents.

The Ontario government reported that there were 857 residential and agricultural real estate purchases by foreigners in the Greater Golden Horseshoe — which stretches from the Niagara Region to Peterborough, ON — between April 24 and May 26.

Half of those properties were in Toronto and 21 per cent were in York Region, The Canadian Press reported.

Foreign buyers were responsible for 9 per cent of total transactions in York Region and 7 per cent in Toronto, with lower percentages in surrounding areas.

The government said last week that nearly 5 per cent of home purchases in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region were made by non-residents since the foreign buyer tax was announced. The non-resident speculation tax came into effect in April, the same month the government first began collecting information from real estate buyers concerning their citizenship, their residency, and their intentions for their properties.

The 15 per cent tax applies to purchases by people who aren’t citizens or permanent residents, and by foreign corporations.

The tax was one part of a housing plan the government introduced in an effort to cool down the market in the Toronto area and beyond.

MBN

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