The foreign buyer tax issue has dominated headlines for some time, but there is little in the way of hard evidence to support the speculation surrounding foreign buyers and their impact on the real estate industry.
With talk of implementing a BC-style foreign buyer tax in the province of Ontario, TREB, as an industry leader, will attempt to fill the data gap. Doing so will help ensure we have the necessary information to represent our Members' interests in this issue to the fullest extent.
To collect the data, TREB has contracted Ipsos, a third-party research firm. Ipsos will survey our Members, especially those who have acted on behalf of a foreign buyer over the last year. Members who respond to the survey will remain anonymous, and no information will be attributable to individual Members or individual transactions.
In the interest of Member confidentiality, only aggregated results will be made public, and the information gleaned from this survey will enable TREB to work with all levels of government in an informed, proactive manner as housing policy options are discussed and debated in the coming months.
You should receive an email inviting you to participate in the survey from Sean Simpson, Vice-President at Ipsos. We encourage you to take part, even if you have not acted on behalf of foreign buyers.
If you do not receive an email and would like to participate, please call the TREB Help Desk at 416-443-8111.
Sharing your experience and opinion helps ensure REALTORS® have a voice in this critical debate.