Foreign homebuyers ban begins: What it means for Simcoe County and York Region
Canada is now banning foreign homebuyers as the nation looks to cool the housing market.
Areas across Central Ontario saw the average home selling above one million dollars over the last few years, pricing many people out of the market.
Although average home prices in Canada have since dropped, affordability and supply of housing remains an issue.
The new ban will target foreign buyers from purchasing a residential property that includes detached homes or similar buildings, semi-detached houses, rowhouse units, residential condominium units and other similar premises.
"The impact of this for Simcoe County and Barrie is going to effectively nill," said Luc Woolsey, the Barrie and District Association of Realtors president.
According to Woolsey, foreign buyers make up under one per cent of the market. He believes the region needs to grow with the rising population and expand home construction.
"We need to lessen red tape, we need to lessen development charges, and we need to find ways to make it more profitable and easier and faster for builders to build inventory, and that's the only way we can solve this problem," said Woolsey.
In York Region, Century 21 Heritage Group reports a similar issue.
Eryn Richardson, a managing partner with the company, says Newmarket currently has 76 homes on the market, where a healthy number would be around 300.
"it's a bit of an equilibrium in terms of pricing but in terms of demand and supply theya re both low," said Richardson.
Richardson noted that the cooling market could also be due to rising interest rates which could have aided in the average price of a home in York Region dropping.
The ban does come with a few exceptions, which include those in Canada with temporary work permits, refugee claimants and international students who meet specific criteria.
Non-Canadians breaking the rules could face a fine of up to $10,000 and may be required to sell the property.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.