First Time Home Buyer Down payment Program Vancouver
Buying your first home is an exceptional feat, whether it’s buying to live or to invest. As our country continues to grow and requires proper housing for everyone, the government of Canada offers a variety of grants and loan programs to assist first time home buyers with the financial strain. It’s a way to encourage Canadians to own a home.
This is just a quick summary of the programs available nationwide. Click on the title for details and the eligibility requirements for each and how to apply. Like any smart first-time buyer, you want to see what grants or loan programs that may be readily available to you.
You may have heard BC First time Home Buyer Loan Program back in 2017 called The BC Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership (BC HOME Partnership). The program assisted residents of British Columbia who were eligible first-time home buyers by providing repayable down payment assistance loans up to a maximum of five per cent of the purchase price.
The loan is for a 25-year term, interest and payment free for the first five years, and is registered on the title to the property as a second mortgage. For the first five years of the loan, the home must be maintained as the owner’s principal residence. The program stopped accepting applications on March 31, 2018 and stopped providing loans as of September 28, 2018.
However, there are plenty of other First time home buyer down payment program Vancouver in applicable within BC or Canada wide.
First Time Home Buyer Incentive
As of September, 2019 – This new First time home buyer down payment program Vancouver is a Home Buyer Incentive which helps people across Canada purchase their first home. The program offers 5 or 10% of the home’s purchase price to put toward a down payment. This addition to your down payment lowers your mortgage carrying costs, making homeownership more affordable.
First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit (HBTC)
Eligible persons who bought a qualifying home in 2018 can claim the home buyers’ amount of $5,000 on Line 369 of Schedule 1 when filing their 2018 income tax and benefit returns. For 2018, the maximum home buyers’ tax credit (HBTC) is $750, which is calculated by multiplying the home buyers’ amount of $5,000 by the federal non-refundable tax credit rate of 15 per cent (equal to the lowest personal income tax rate for the year).
New home buyers can apply for a rebate for the five per cent GST if the purchase price is $350,000 or less. The rebate is equal to 36 per cent of the GST to a maximum rebate of $6,300. There is a proportional GST rebate for new homes that cost between $350,000 and $450,000. There’s no rebate for homes priced at $450,000 and above.
Qualifying home buyers can withdraw up to $35,000 (couples can withdraw up to $70,000) from their RRSPs for a down payment. Home buyers who have experienced a breakdown in their marriage or common-law partnership even if they are not first-time buyers and those who have repaid their RRSP may be eligible to use the program a second time.
CMHC First-time Home Buyers’ Incentive
A first time home buyer down payment program for Vancouver, BC would be CMHC. CMHC offers qualifying first-time home buyers with household incomes less than $120,000 a year and a five per cent down payment a 10 per cent shared equity mortgage for a newly constructed home or a five per cent shared equity mortgage for an existing home. The buyer repays the incentive later or at re-sale. The incentive reduces the amount of monthly mortgage payments.
The First time home buyer down payment program along side the other assistant grants that are available in BC would greatly help assist you in navigating the buying process and to save some money in purchasing a home. This article is constantly updated for any new changes so feel free to come back anytime to get an updated version.