Toronto councillor renews call for foreign buyers tax

A Toronto councillor is renewing calls to implement a foreign buyers tax to cool down the city's red-hot real estate market.

Coun. Jim Karygiannis, who held aThursdaynews conference alongside a McMaster University economist, has sent a letter to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne asking for permission to slap a five-per-cent tax on foreign buyers.

Ontario has balked at the idea of taxing foreign buyers over concerns that such a tax could significantly hurt the value of homes that people already own. The province is also keeping an eye on Vancouver's market, where a 15 per cent foreign buyers tax came into effect on Aug. 2, 2016.

"We're not taxing our own folks," Karygiannis told reporters at city hall.

• House prices slide for second straight month in Vancouver, rise in Toronto: report

Economist Atif Kubursi said the tax would make real estate speculators reconsider their choices.

"We're asking people who typically don't pay taxes here to bear part of the burden," he said.

"We're getting money from these speculators and giving it to poor families, or to families who cannot afford to buy a home."

• Toronto-area home sales hit record high in 2016, with average selling price soaring

Earlier this month, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported that the average home price in the GTAsoared at the end of the year. The average home price hit$730,472 last month, up 20 per cent compared to December 2015.

Kubursi said he thinks the tax should actually be 15 per cent of the price of the home.

The Toronto Real Estate Board and some real estate lawyers have condemned the idea, saying the city should be welcoming international investment.

• Real estate groups lobby against calls for GTA foreign buyers tax