Thursday, 6 May 2021, 5:12 am
This is our second survey undertaken since the government
announced changes in housing policies on March 23. Of
greatest significance in the announcement was the immediate
removal of ability to deduct interest expenses from income
for new buyers of existing property, and a phase in of the
same deduction removal over four years for current property
owners. New purchases of newly built properties will retain
the deduction along with a five-year brightline test for
application of capital gains tax, as opposed to an extension
to ten years for new buyers of existing
properties.
There has been considerable discussion
UNSPLASH
Real estate agents are all over the map when asked to predict whether the colder weather will see a cooling off of the housing market.
The best time to sell a property has historically always been spring, when buyers were neither sunning themselves at the bach, nor on a three-week mid-winter escape to Europe. Some houses simply can t be made to look their best in the dark and cold of winter. But that’s in a normal year – and we all know that things are far from normal right now. After months of prediction-busting house price rises, will we still see a cooling off of listings along with the weather?