It’s time for a ‘flipping tax’ on foreign investors

This article originally appeared at Advisor’s sister publication, Maclean’s.

In the bubbly world of Canadian real estate, the house “flip” has gone from revered to feared—depending largely, it seems, on who is doing the flipping.

The idea of buying a home, sprucing it up and selling at a profit a few months later is celebrated by at least a half-dozen popular reality TV shows, several of which are either made in Canada or involve Canadians: Love it or List it, Flip this House, Home to Flip, Flip or Flop and the strangely named Masters of Flip. At the same time, however, there’s growing angst that foreign buyers—namely from mainland China—may be getting into the game, leading to calls for some sort of speculation tax in provinces like B.C.

Benjamin Tal, the deputy chief economist, at CIBC World Markets, weighed into the debate with a research note that, effectively, concluded a “flipping tax” on foreign investors isn’t the worst idea in the world since it could help curb a potentially problematic element of foreign investment. However, Tal also acknowledged that such a tax is unlikely to have much impact on soaring house prices in Vancouver and Toronto since there’s little evidence foreign buyers are more likely to flip a property than Canadian ones.

For the full story, visit, Maclean’s.

Also read:

China is buying Canada: inside the real estate frenzy

Can these students analyze stocks better than you?

Key trends in luxury real estate market