The Property Transfer Tax was first introduced in 1987 when the average sale price in Vancouver was $147,000. The Property Transfer Tax was 1% on the first 200K and 2% on the balance, payable by the buyer at time of completion. The logic was that the government was going to tax speculation and wealth because only 5% of the properties were selling over $200,000 in 1987. Times have changed!

Fast forward to the 2014 - 2015 fiscal year and the Government has collected $1.15 Billion dollars from the Property Transfer Tax. This revenue was up $937 Million from the 2013 - 2014 fiscal year and it is expected to grow in the 2015 - 2016 fiscal year that ends March 31, 2016.