The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a key factor in real estate transactions, applying to commissions, fees, and even some housing.

It’s important for Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR) members to understand how GST is applied so you can properly guide your clients.

Here’s a collection of resources you can use to ensure you’re up to speed on GST.

GST on housing fact sheet for Realtors

GST applies to the purchase of a new residential home in BC – but what exactly does the government consider a “new” home? And are there any rebates or exemptions?

To help you understand the rules around GST, we’ve compiled all this information and more into a fact sheet for Realtors.

You can also download a PDF version.

Need to know more? Take our course

Our GST for Realtors and Real Estate Transactions course provides you with a basic understanding of how the GST applies to your business. You’ll learn how it applies to both commercial and residential real estate transactions, and how you can determine if you have a GST situation that needs action.

You’ll also learn about risks and liabilities associated with the GST and when you should advise your client(s) to seek legal or professional tax advice.

This course also complements BCREA’s Tax Tips for Selling Real Estate course.

The next available date for our course:
June 25, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm via Zoom webinar

Register today.

MLS® rules around GST

Residential listings on the MLS® have an optional field for GST. This yes-or-no field gives you the option to let other members know if the listing price includes GST or not.

If you have a listing that GST applies to and you want to include GST in the listing price, we encourage you to use this field.

Note that all sales prices must be reported to GVR without the tax included even if your original listing included the GST in its price.

When in doubt, ask an expert

If you’re in doubt about GST, we recommend you ask an expert like an accountant, or ask your managing broker for advice.

The new sales statuses for MLS® listings will now be coming to Paragon, REALTOR.ca, and other platforms in July. We'll announce the exact date in the coming weeks.

These new statuses will help REALTORS®, homebuyers, and sellers get a better sense of how far along a listing is in the transaction lifecycle.

What are the new statuses?

There will be three new statuses:

1. Active Under Contract – This optional status will be used when a listing has an accepted offer with subjects on it. If your brokerage has permitted use of this status, and you have the Agent Modify ability, you can change to this status on your own.

2. Pending – Replacing the current “Sold” status, this status will be applied to listings that have an accepted subject-free offer, or once all subjects are removed.

3. Closed – Listings will automatically move to this status at the end of their completion date.

The “Active Under Contract” status will be available to all members with agent modify ability, but your brokerage may apply rules on whether you can use it, or how you can use it. Please check with your office to see how they intend to use the status.

Please note that association staff will not be updating listings from Active to Active Under Contract.

More recent sold prices coming to Realtor.ca

Along with the new sale statuses, we also plan on including more recent sold prices for listings on public-facing listing websites like Realtor.ca.

After the starting date in July, all listings with the new “Closed” status will automatically show their sale price.

We’ll provide more information on the new sale statuses and public facing sold prices in the coming weeks.

Questions? Please contact the MLS® department at mls@gvrealtors.ca

The Bank of Canada decided to reduce its target for the overnight lending rate from 5% to 4.75%. The move was widely expected by financial markets and marked the Bank’s first rate reduction since the onset of the pandemic four years ago, bringing rates down to where they stood exactly one year ago.

In a scheduled announcement on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, the Bank noted Canada’s economy picked up in the first quarter of 2024 but still came in weaker than anticipated. While growth in consumer spending, business investment, and the housing market remained solid, the Bank once again made note of the fact that employment has been rising at a slower pace than working-age population growth.

The Bank continues to focus on elevated shelter costs as a significant contributor to inflation. However, it also noted that both headline and core measures of inflation are showing signs of downward momentum and are close to historical averages.

With inflation now back in the Bank’s preferred range of 1-3% and increased confidence that inflation continues to move toward its 2% target, the Bank stated, “monetary policy no longer needs to be as restrictive” in its decision to lower the policy rate by 25 basis points.

The Bank of Canada will make its next scheduled interest rate announcement on July 24, 2024, as well as publish its full outlook for the economy and inflation in its next Monetary Policy Report.

Are you looking for interest rate information to share with your clients? REALTOR.ca Living Room has put together an article for prospective home buyers about what they should do if they’re buying a home in the current market, and why working with a REALTOR® is important.

VANCOUVER, BC – June 4, 2024 – The number of transactions on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) declined in May compared to what is typical for this time of year in Metro Vancouver1. This shift has allowed the inventory of homes available for sale to continue to accumulate with over 13,000 homes now actively listed on the MLS® in the region.

The Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR) reports that residential sales in the region totalled 2,733 in May 2024, a 19.9 per cent decrease from the 3,411 sales recorded in May 2023. Last month’s sales total was also down 19.6 per cent from the 10-year seasonal average for May (3,398).

GVR Stats Package for May 2024

SURREY, BC – Slower seasonal sales helped build inventory to its highest level since September 2019 in the Fraser Valley in May, creating more balanced market conditions for home buyers and sellers. The increase in supply over the past several months has further contributed to a softening of price growth, which is good news for buyers.

Active listings increased eight per cent from April to May to 7,904 — up 42 per cent over May 2023 and 19 per cent above the 10-year average.

Sales, however, remained seasonally slow, with 1,517 transactions on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listings Service ® (MLS®) in May, up 3 per cent from April, but down 11 per cent compared to May 2023. May sales were 21 per cent below the 10-year average.

FVREB Stats Package for May 2024

CASA168 – Mount Pleasant | Move-in Ready

DATE: Thursday June 20, 2024

TIME: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

LOCATION: 1127 E 15th Ave. Vancouver

Prize draw, drinks, and snacks

Sign up: https://forms.gle/hHWG5rzEyJChYgDW7

Website: casa168.ca

MLS® tours are a popular way for members to generate exposure for their listings while networking and staying on top of the local market.  

However, we’ve been hearing recently that some members are taking photos and videos of tour listings and posting them to their websites and social media accounts. This is a violation of Article 14 of the REALTOR® Code and Rule 8.3 of the Rules of Cooperation.

Why is this a violation?

Any promotion of a property in any form, including electronic media, is advertising and is prohibited without the prior written permission of the listing brokerage (who must have the written permission of the seller before giving that permission).  

If a social media post is allowed by the listing brokerage, the post must also include the name of the listing brokerage.  

These rules apply to the posting of pictures and video, which shouldn't have been taken in the first place without the express written consent of the listing agent.  

Even if shared with just one buyer client, who knows what that client will do with them, where they will post them, etc. There's a massive exposure potential for all concerned. 

There can be serious professional, regulatory, and potentially legal consequences should any of the posts you or your clients create lead to a break-in or theft. And that doesn’t include the reputational risk you’re exposing yourself and the profession to. 

What are MLS® tours?

An MLS® tour (log in needed) is an effective way to expose your new listing. It's a caravan-style tour that starts at one location, and members car-pool to other listed homes. It's also an excellent way to increase your knowledge of local communities. 

To submit a listing for a MLS® tour, send it to the MLS® tour coordinator for the area where your listing is located. They'll include it in the next available tour. You’ll get a guaranteed visit to your listing, and an opportunity to network and build a rapport with fellow members. 

Any new residential listing can be included. Realtors who submit listings must be present during the tour to provide access. 

Questions? Contact Daniel Ryall, manager, MLS®, at dryall@gvrealtors.ca.

Your saved searches in Paragon will be automatically updated to reflect the new sales statuses when they’re added to the MLS® in June.

How will my searches be updated?

Saved searches that include “Active” will be updated to include both “Active” and “Active Under Contract”.

Saved searches that include “Sold”, will be updated to replace “Sold” with “Pending” and “Closed”.

To understand what these new statuses mean, check out our sales status FAQ.

What do I have to do?

While your saved searches will be automatically updated, we recommend you review your saved searches to ensure they’re accurate and align with your clients’ needs and expectations.

You can also edit your saved searches after launch to narrow them to only include the new statuses you want – for example, if your search for Active listings now returns both Active and Active Under Contract, you can edit it to only return Active.

Client-centric updates

Searches linked to your clients will be updated with the new statuses ensuring they receive up-to-date information. Search results will continue to be sent to your clients via email and Collaboration Centre.

Clients using Collaboration Centre may notice an increase in notifications due to the expanded range of status values. Active will also include Active Under Contract listings, and Sold will be replaced with Pending and Closed.

If your client has opted to receive a notification when a status changes, then they will receive a notification when status changes to Active Under Contract, Pending, or Closed. With additional status changes triggering notifications, clients will be able to stay better informed regarding their saved searches.

For clients entering searches directly into the Collaboration Centre, the system will automatically adjust searches to include both Active and Active Under Contract. 

Contact the GVR if you have any questions.

VANCOUVER, BC – May 2, 2024 – Actively listed homes for sale on the MLS® in Metro Vancouver1 continued climbing in April, up 42 per cent year-over-year, breaching the 12,000 mark, a number not seen in the region since the summer of 2020.

Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR)2 reports that residential sales3 in the region totalled 2,831 in April 2024, a 3.3 per cent increase from the 2,741 sales recorded in April 2023. This was 12.2 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average (3,223).

There were 7,092 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in April 2024. This represents a 64.7 per cent increase compared to the 4,307 properties listed in April 2023.

This was 25.8 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average (5,637).

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 12,491, a 42.1 per cent increase compared to April 2023 (8,790).

This is 16.7 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average (10,704).

GVR Stats Package for April 2024

SURREY, BC – Supply of available homes in the Fraser Valley market continued to build last month, however buyers remained relatively hesitant, leading to a cooler resale market in April. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board recorded 1,471 transactions on its Multiple Listings Service® (MLS®) in April, up 5 per cent from March, but off by 5 per cent compared to April 2023. While sales were the third lowest recorded for an April in the last decade, inventory continues to build, reaching levels not seen since September 2020. Active listings were 7,313, up by 18 per cent over last month and 17 per cent above the 10-year average.

FVREB Stats Package for April 2024

Throughout the month of April, the federal government made several announcements regarding housing in Canada and introduced the 2024 Budget.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is conducting ongoing analyses of these policies to understand both the impact to REALTORS® and the Canadian housing and real estate market.

Here are a few of the important things REALTORS® should know about what’s been announced.

Canada’s Housing Plan

On Friday, April 12, 2024, the federal government announced Canada’s Housing Plan, the first articulation of a “systems” approach to housing and home building – through skills, financing, home building methods, reducing approval barriers, and infrastructure tied to housing.

It’s an ambitious plan that acknowledges and aims to address housing affordability and supply across the continuum, something REALTORS® have been encouraging for years.

“Canada’s housing challenges have been building over many years and no one group can tackle it on their own. REALTORS® across Canada have been advocating for a collaborative, multi-faceted approach for years. We’re ready to play our part,” said Janice Myers, CREA’s CEO, following the announcement.

For nearly 40 years, CREA has engaged elected officials and government to discuss solutions and make recommendations on behalf of REALTORS®. We’re pleased to see Canada’s Housing Plan reflects many of the recommendations we’ve put forth over the years to help address the challenges and needs facing Canadian property buyers, sellers, and renters.

The government proposes to increase housing supply by:

• Introducing an Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for apartments.

• Expanding the removal of federal taxes (GST) for rental housing.

• Increasing the annual limit for Canada Mortgage Bonds.

• Providing low-cost loans to build apartments for the middle-class.

• Making the Apartment Construction Loan Program easier and faster to use.

• Launching Canada Builds, a team Canada approach to building affordable homes for the middle class, including on under-utilized public lands across the country.

• Building homes on top of shops and businesses.

• Launching a Historic Public Lands for Homes Plan.

• Modernizing housing data.

• Offering low-cost financing for homeowners to add additional suites.

• Further incentivizing density to existing homes.

• Investing in Indigenous housing and infrastructure.

• Supporting Indigenous people living away from their communities in urban, rural, and Northern areas.

• Helping municipalities legalize housing and streamline approvals.

• Attaching housing conditions on public transit funding.

• Building the necessary infrastructure to support growing communities.

• Leveraging the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

• Implementing an industrial strategy for home building.

• Introducing a standardized housing design catalogue.

• Scaling up new tech to build new homes.

• Investing in new approaches to home building.

• Providing low-cost loans to prefabricated housing projects.

• Simplifying the way Canada builds homes.

• Making building codes digital.

• Training the next generation of skilled trades workers.

• Improving labour mobility to connect more people to opportunity.

The government proposes to make it easier for Canadians to rent or buy a home by: 

• Launching a Tenant Protection Fund.

• Creating a new Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights.

• Leveraging rental payment history to improve credit scores.

• Extending mortgage amortizations for first-time buyers buying newly built homes.

• Strengthening the Canadian Mortgage Charter.

• Leveraging the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account.

• Increasing the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit.

• Extending the grace period to repay Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawals.

• Making home cheaper to heat, and easier on the environment.

• Helping municipalities enforce regulations limiting short-term rentals.

• Removing tax deductions for certain short-term rental operators.

• Extending the ban on foreign home buyers.

• Combatting mortgage fraud.

• Cracking down on real estate fraud.

• Confronting the financialization of housing.

The government proposes to help Canadians who can’t afford a home by: 

• Providing $1 billion for the Affordable Housing Fund to build affordable homes.

• Launching a new Rapid Housing Stream.

• Making the Affordable Housing Fund easier to use.

• Launching a $1.5-billion Canada Rental Protection Fund.

• Launching a new Co-operative Housing Development program.

• Keeping non-profit and co-op homes affordable.

• Introducing more supports to address homelessness.

• Reducing homelessness faster.

• Addressing encampments and unsheltered homelessness.

• Ending homelessness for veterans in Canada.

• Sheltering asylum claimants.

• Funding culturally relevant services, shelter, and transitional housing.

2024 Budget

On Tuesday April 16, 2024, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, tabled the fourth budget of the 44th parliamentary session, Fairness for Every Generation, a budget they say is heavily focused on building “a Canada that works better for you, where you can get ahead, where your hard work pays off, where you can buy a home—where you have a fair chance at a good middle class life.”

The majority of the housing measures reflected in Budget 2024 were announced prior to the introduction of the budget, accumulating in the Canada’s Housing Plan announcement.

These are the new housing related measures announced in Budget 2024:

• The government will consider introducing a new tax on residentially zoned vacant land and will launch consultations later this year.

• The government intends to increase the inclusion rate on capital gains realized annually above $250,000 by individuals and on all capital gains by corporations and trusts from one-half to two-thirds, by amending the Income Tax Act, effective June 25, 2024.

• The government intends to establish a subsidiary of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to deliver flood reinsurance.

• The government intends to restrict the purchase and acquisition of existing single-family homes by very large corporate investors. The government will consult in the coming months and provide further details in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement.

• The government is exploring new measures to expand access to alternative financing products, like halal mortgages.

Capital Gains

While CREA applauds the federal government’s “all hands on deck” approach to tackling Canada’s housing crisis, there are potential concerns with the proposed changes to the capital gains inclusion rate. Over the coming weeks, CREA will be actively analyzing the implications of these announced measures.

We’re particularly interested in its potential impact on REALTORS®, their clients, and housing supply. To this end our Economics team is undertaking data analysis; our Government Relations team is engaged in stakeholder outreach with both internal and external groups; and we’ll be fielding a member survey to gather feedback from a representative sample of REALTORS®. This approach will ensure our understanding is thorough, and any subsequent actions are well-informed and effective.

In addition, the latest budget explicitly restated the exemption for capital gains from the sale on principal residences has been maintained. We will vigorously hold the government to this commitment.

Further information about these points will be communicated as it becomes available.

Sales statuses for listings on the MLS® will look completely different starting in June, adding more transparency for REALTORS®, and their clients looking to buy or sell a home.

The new status structure will include three new statuses:

• Active Under Contract – This optional status will be used when a listing has an accepted offer with subjects on it. If your brokerage has permitted use of this status, and you have the Agent Modify ability, you can change to this status on your own. Note – you’ll also need the seller’s permission to use this status. This can be added to the schedule A.

• Pending – Replacing the current “Sold” status, this status will be applied to listings that have an accepted subject-free offer, or once all subjects are removed.

• Closed – Listings will automatically move to this status at the end of their completion date.

What the home-sale transaction process will look like

With these new statuses, listings will look a little different in both Paragon and on real estate listings sites like Realtor.ca and Realtylink.org.

The new sales status tree will look like this:

1. Active

2. Active Under Contract

3. Pending

4. Closed

5. Expired

Active and Active Under Contract

All listings will start as “Active”, which means the listing is available.

If the seller accepts a conditional offer, the listing will then move to “Active Under Contract” if the listing Realtor’s office allows the use of this status, and the seller has provided instruction to do so.

If the seller accepts an unconditional offer, or the subjects on a conditional offer are removed, the sales status will move to the next phase.

Pending and Closed

There will no longer be a “Sold” status. Instead, “Sold” will be divided into two new statuses – “Pending” and “Closed”.

Once subjects are removed, or an offer without subjects is accepted, the status will move to “Pending.” The listing will then move to the “Closed” status on the completion date.

In most cases, this will be the end of the transaction cycle.

Expired

Sometimes sales collapse after an accepted offer.

If it collapses before the listing’s expiry date, the status will move back to “Active”.

If it’s after the expiry date, the status will move to the “Expired” status.