Help on the way for first-time homebuyers in Ontario
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Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, along with Chris Ballard, Minister of Housing, were at Gateway Park in Toronto to highlight the proposal, announced in the 2016 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review.
If passed, the proposal would mean that no Land Transfer Tax would be payable on the first $368,000 of the cost of a first home, and more than half of first-time homebuyers would pay no Land Transfer Tax on the purchase of their home.
Residential investment as a share of GDP has increased to 7.9 percent in 2015 from 4.8 percent in 2000.
The average purchase price for a first-time homebuyer in Ontario in 2015 was $375,000.
In 2015, 99 percent of single-family residence transactions in Ontario were below $2 million. ■