April 1-Switchback to GST/PST- Housing Market Effects?

 On April 1 2013, British Columbians will see the switch from HST to GST/PST.  Is there any savings for home buyers to wait until April 1 2013?

This is what is being said about the switchback to GST/PST:

-The switch back to GST and PST has been months of headaches for B.C. brokers, and an unwelcome brake on new home buyers waiting for the April 1 deadline.

-People buying new homes are holding off until April 1, so they can save on taxes. There is a savings to be had on new home construction.”

-B.C. homebuyers are waiting until April 1 to buy and save money, when that province’s HST reverts back to separate GST and PST.

 -The builders have been seeing this too,  adding that the concurrent cooling off of the once red-hot west coast housing market has contributed to a quiet winter for brokers.

But another side effect of the return to the GST and PST is the mountain of new paperwork and accounting.

 

What will be the savings?

The province’s harmonized sales tax is 12 per cent, consisting of 7 per cent provincial sales tax and 5 per cent goods and services tax. Given the option to pay 5 per cent instead of 12 per cent on a home worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, homebuyers are waiting the next few weeks – and delaying the usual spring bloom of business for brokers.