Fraser Valley Real Estate Board President Gopal Sahota says it’s tough to tell how effective the foreign buyers tax has been, since it was introduced last summer.
Sahota told the Surrey Board of Trade’s annual general meeting, people are still finding loopholes in the tax.
He says one example is people purchasing property through relatives.
“It was implemented last year when the market was easing off in July/August and the following months the market did slow down but this March the markets picked back up again and it continues to rise in the Fraser Valley here.”
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Sahota says the tax was not thought through enough by government, and more time was needed before it was implemented.
As for the local housing market right now, he says the demand for Surrey real estate is “remarkable”, with detached homes selling in an average of 24 days.
He says the average price of a house in Surrey now is just under 1-million-dollars; in South Surrey the average price is 1.5-million.
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