Foreigners who buy residential property in the Vancouver area will have to pay an extra 15-per-cent tax as part of a B.C. government plan to slow the foreign speculation that many blame for making the region’s homes the most unaffordable in Canada.

The change to the province’s property transfer tax announced on Monday means an extra $300,000 in taxes for people from abroad buying a home for $2-million. Detached houses in the area typically run around that or higher. The surprise move comes after the government tracked all residential real estate transactions across British Columbia over four weeks in June and July and found foreign citizens who were not permanent residents bought just more than a billion dollars worth of property.

For the first time since taking office five years ago, Premier Christy Clark said that limiting demand – not just increasing supply – could help make Metro Vancouver’s housing market more affordable.

“I want to keep home ownership within the grasp of the middle class in British Columbia,” Ms. Clark said at a news conference in Victoria.

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Credit The Globe and Mail