BC Property Transfer Tax in 2026: What It Costs on Real Greater Vancouver Prices

On a typical Greater Vancouver apartment the property transfer tax is $11,650. On a typical detached house it's $33,694, and on a $3.5 million house it's $93,000. You pay it in cash on the day your purchase registers at the Land Title Office, on top of your down payment.

Those first two numbers use the September 2026 benchmark prices from Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR): $682,500 for an apartment and $1,784,700 for a detached house. Most buyers know PTT exists. Fewer know where the lines are. A first-time buyer at $682,500 pays $3,650 instead of $11,650. At $860,000 the same buyer pays the full $15,200. A brand-new home at $1.1 million or less can be PTT-free. And in the narrow bands just above those limits, every extra $1,000 of price costs you $340 to $440 in tax.

Source: Greater Vancouver Realtors, September 2026 stats package; PTT calculated at the general rates. Benchmark = MLS® Home Price Index price of a typical home in the GVR area, September 2026.

The rates, and a shortcut

PTT is charged on the fair market value of what you're buying, land plus buildings, on the day the transfer registers. When a home sells on the open market and registers within a few months, the purchase price is generally taken as that value. The rate comes in slices:

Source: Government of B.C., property transfer tax; Property Transfer Tax Act, s. 3 and 3.01.

Add the slices up and PTT is $38,000 at exactly $2 million and $68,000 at $3 million. The quick way to do it in your head: between $200,000 and $2 million, PTT is 2% of the price minus $2,000. Between $2 million and $3 million it's 3% minus $22,000. Above $3 million, on a fully residential property, it's 5% minus $82,000.

So the benchmark apartment: 2% of $682,500 is $13,650, minus $2,000, gives $11,650. A $3.5 million house: 5% is $175,000, minus $82,000, gives $93,000, the same as the long way ($2,000 + $36,000 + $45,000 + $10,000). Because the first $200,000 is taxed at only 1%, the effective rate stays under 2% until about $2.2 million.

The 3% slice started on February 17, 2016 and the further 2% over $3 million on February 21, 2018. Budget 2026 changed neither the rates nor the exemption limits, so the 2026 rates are the same as 2025's. Run your own price through my PTT calculator.

One presale wrinkle: on a pre-sold strata unit, PTT is charged on the total you paid to get it, including upgrades and any assignment premium, as long as the agreement was signed before the developer deposited the strata plan. That total is also the value used for the first-time buyer test below.

PTT on today's asking prices, city by city

Benchmarks are one number for the whole region, so I also ran the tax on the median asking price in each city on EstateBlock's live listings. These are asking prices of active listings, not sale prices: read them as the tax if a home sold right at the middle of today's list prices.

West Vancouver$107,794Vancouver$61,088North Vancouver$46,940Richmond$46,522Burnaby$40,986Port Moody$37,000White Rock$35,998Squamish$35,500Langley$34,851Coquitlam$33,980Surrey$30,365New Westminster$27,998Delta$27,300Port Coquitlam$25,270Maple Ridge$24,998Pitt Meadows$24,980Abbotsford$23,470Mission$21,180Chilliwack$17,698

Source: EstateBlock.com live listings, snapshot Oct 10, 2026 (asking prices of active listings, not sale prices). PTT calculated at the general rates, including the further 2% above $3M

Show the numbers

City	PTT
West Vancouver	$107,794
Vancouver	$61,088
North Vancouver	$46,940
Richmond	$46,522
Burnaby	$40,986
Port Moody	$37,000
White Rock	$35,998
Squamish	$35,500
Langley	$34,851
Coquitlam	$33,980
Surrey	$30,365
New Westminster	$27,998
Delta	$27,300
Port Coquitlam	$25,270
Maple Ridge	$24,998
Pitt Meadows	$24,980
Abbotsford	$23,470
Mission	$21,180
Chilliwack	$17,698

West Vancouver is the only city where the median house is listed above $3 million ($3,795,875), so it's the only bar that includes the further 2%. That slice alone is $15,918 of its $107,794. Vancouver's median house at $2,769,599 works out to $61,088. At the other end, Chilliwack's $984,900 median comes to $17,698.

For a house buyer PTT is mostly a cash-planning problem, with no exemption to chase unless the house is brand new and under $1.15 million. Condos and townhouses are where the first-time buyer line falls.

Source: EstateBlock.com live listings, snapshot Oct 10, 2026 (asking prices of active listings, not sale prices). PTT calculated at the general rates; first-time column assumes a fully eligible buyer under the rules in effect since April 1, 2024; above $860,000 there is no exemption, so it equals PTT. Asking prices, not sale prices.

In every city in the table except West Vancouver, the median condo is listed under $835,000. In Vancouver the median condo asking price is $799,000: $13,980 of PTT, or $5,980 for a first-time buyer. In Surrey, Maple Ridge, Abbotsford and Chilliwack the median condo is under $500,000, and below that line a first-time buyer pays no PTT at all. Surrey's $499,900 median would otherwise cost $7,998. Browse Vancouver condos or Surrey condos on EstateBlock.

Source: EstateBlock.com live listings, snapshot Oct 10, 2026 (asking prices of active listings, not sale prices). PTT calculated at the general rates. Sorted from lowest to highest median asking price; first-time column as above. Asking prices, not sale prices.

Townhouses are where it gets interesting. Langley's median is listed at $829,950, about $5,000 under the line, so a first-time buyer would get the full $8,000 off. New Westminster's sits at $874,944 and Burnaby's at $907,000, past $860,000, so no exemption at all. If you're a first-time buyer choosing between a Langley townhouse and one in Burnaby, PTT is part of that gap: $6,599 against $16,140 at the median asking prices.

First-time buyers: the $835,000 line

Since April 1, 2024, a qualifying first-time buyer pays no PTT on the first $500,000 of a home worth up to $835,000. Under $500,000 that wipes out the whole tax. Between $500,000 and $835,000 it's a flat $8,000 off, because that's the tax on the first $500,000. Above $835,000 the $8,000 shrinks by $320 for every $1,000 of price, and at $860,000 it's gone. Before April 2024 the line was $500,000, with the exemption phasing out by $525,000.

• Regular buyer
• First-time buyer

$0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000

500682.5800835845850860900

Source: Government of B.C., first time home buyers' exemption amounts; amounts calculated at the general rates

Show the numbers

	Regular buyer	First-time buyer
500	$8,000	$0
682.5	$11,650	$3,650
800	$14,000	$6,000
835	$14,700	$6,700
845	$14,900	$10,100
850	$15,000	$11,800
860	$15,200	$15,200
900	$16,000	$16,000

Look at the first-time buyer columns from $835,000 to $860,000. PTT payable goes from $6,700 to $15,200 on a $25,000 difference in price. In that band you lose $320 of exemption and pay $20 more tax for every extra $1,000: $340 per $1,000, a 34% marginal tax on the price. Only the new-home phase-out, below, is steeper.

Say you're a first-time buyer and the place you want is listed at $849,000. Getting the price down to $835,000 saves you $14,000 plus $4,760 of PTT, because the tax falls from $11,460 to $6,700. I'd know that number before I start negotiating.

To qualify, you need all of the following at the time the transfer registers:

• You're a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (become one by the first anniversary and you can apply for a refund).
• You've lived in B.C. for the 12 months right before registration, or filed at least two B.C. tax returns in the last six tax years.
• You have never owned an interest in a home that was your principal residence, anywhere in the world.
• You've never received this exemption or refund before.
• The home will be your principal residence, worth no more than $835,000 for the full exemption, on 0.5 hectares (1.24 acres) or less with only residential buildings. Bigger lots or extra buildings get a partial exemption.

The "anywhere in the world" part catches people. If you owned and lived in an apartment in another country before moving here, you're not a first-time buyer for PTT, even if you've never owned in Canada. (My guide for newcomers buying in B.C. covers the rest.) The federal first-time buyer GST rebate uses a different test: whether you lived in a home you or your spouse owned in the current year or the previous four calendar years.

Buying with someone who doesn't qualify? Only the qualifying buyer's share gets the exemption. The province's own example: a couple buys at $835,000 and only one spouse qualifies, so the tax is $14,700 minus half of $8,000, or $10,700. If you qualified but your lawyer or notary didn't claim it at registration, you can apply for a refund from the first anniversary up to 18 months after registration. The rest of the process is in my first-time buyer guide.

New homes and presales: up to $1.1 million, PTT-free

The newly built home exemption is the bigger one, and you don't have to be a first-time buyer to get it. Since April 1, 2024, a new home worth $1,100,000 or less is fully exempt. Between $1.1 million and $1.15 million the exemption phases out, and at $1.15 million it's gone. Before April 2024 the limit was $750,000.

At exactly $1.1 million the exemption is worth $20,000. At $1,125,000 you pay $10,250 of the $20,500. At $1.15 million you pay the full $21,000. That's $21,000 of tax appearing over a $50,000 price range, roughly $420 for every extra $1,000.

You need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, but there's no first-time test and no prior B.C. residency rule. It has to be the first registration with a finished home on the property, nobody can have lived in it, and it has to become your principal residence: move in within 92 days and stay for the rest of the first year. That covers a new condo, a new house on vacant land, a manufactured home placed on vacant land, and a few other cases.

You can't claim this one and the first-time buyers' exemption on the same purchase. If you qualify for both, take the bigger one. On a new home the new-home exemption is never the smaller of the two, and if the wrong one gets claimed you have 18 months from registration to switch. A first-time buyer of a brand-new condo at $682,500 pays $0 under the new-home exemption, against $3,650 under the first-time exemption.

The federal first-time home buyers' GST rebate is a separate program: up to $50,000 of GST back on a new home valued up to $1 million, phasing out to nothing at $1.5 million. If you qualify for both on a $1 million new condo, that's up to $50,000 of GST back plus $18,000 of PTT you don't pay. I compare that math with a resale purchase in presale vs resale in Vancouver, and the presale process itself is in my presale buying guide.

The exemptions side by side

Source: Government of B.C., first time home buyers' program; newly built home exemption; Property Transfer Tax Act.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Before you count on an exemption, confirm your own situation with your lawyer, notary or accountant.

Foreign buyers: another 20%

Foreign nationals, foreign corporations and taxable trustees pay an additional property transfer tax of 20% on their share of the residential value, on top of the regular PTT. It applies in five regional districts: Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, the Capital Regional District, Central Okanagan and Nanaimo. That covers every Metro Vancouver city from West Vancouver to Maple Ridge, but not Squamish, Whistler or the Sunshine Coast, even though GVR reports prices for them.

The province's example: foreign buyers of a $3.4 million home pay $88,000 of regular PTT plus $680,000 of additional tax, $768,000 in total. On the $682,500 benchmark apartment, the extra 20% alone would be $136,500.

It started at 15% in Metro Vancouver in 2016 and has been 20% in all five regions since February 21, 2018. B.C. Provincial Nominees buying a principal residence are exempt once, and buyers who become citizens or permanent residents within a year of registration, move in within 92 days and live there for a year can apply for a refund.

The federal ban on most non-Canadians buying residential property has been in force since January 1, 2023 and is set to expire on January 1, 2027. As of an October 7 report, Ottawa hadn't announced an extension, and the finance minister said the government was looking at all its options. B.C.'s 20% is a separate provincial tax and doesn't depend on the federal ban. If you're in Canada on a work or study permit, my newcomer's guide is the place to start.

When it's due and who pays

The buyer pays, when the transfer is registered at the Land Title Office. On a normal purchase that's completion day, and the office can refuse to register the transfer if the tax isn't paid. Your lawyer or notary files the return online through the LTSA and pays electronically. A return is filed even when you're fully exempt; that's where the exemption is claimed.

Your lawyer or notary collects it with the rest of your closing funds, so plan for it as cash on top of the down payment, not as part of the mortgage. My closing cost calculator puts it next to the other costs of closing.

Don't get creative with the declared value. A return with wrong or misleading information to avoid tax gets a penalty equal to the tax, which in effect doubles it. Any return can be audited, normally within six years of registration, and if you disagree with an assessment you have 90 days to appeal to the minister.

If your plans change in the first year

Both exemptions come with a one-year string attached: move in within 92 days of registration and keep living there until the first anniversary. Break that and the province wants the money back. How much depends on what went wrong.

If you didn't qualify in the first place, or you broke another condition, you owe the tax the exemption covered. If you falsely declared that you'd never owned a principal residence or never claimed the exemption, there's also a penalty equal to the exemption. But if the only problem is that you moved out early, the bill is prorated: multiply the tax by 1 − (n ÷ 365), where n is the number of days from registration until you stopped living there. At 360 days or more, nothing is owed. If the owner dies, or the home is transferred under a written separation agreement or a Family Law Act order, the exemption stays.

A hypothetical: a first-time buyer saves $8,000 on a $682,500 condo, then takes a job in Calgary and moves out 200 days after registration. The repayment is $8,000 × (1 − 200/365), about $3,616.

Selling inside the first two years also brings the B.C. home flipping tax into play: up to 20% of the net taxable income if you sell within 365 days, falling to zero at 730 days. I walk through how that works in the BC home flipping tax explained.

Is anything changing?

Not in the rules for home buyers. Budget 2026, tabled February 17, made no change to the rates or to the $835,000 and $1.1 million limits. Its PTT changes were for other people: a wider exemption for new purpose-built rental buildings (it runs from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2030) and technical changes, including a six-year limitation period for offences instead of one.

B.C. votes on October 24. In the platforms and campaign releases published as of October 10 and 11, the BC NDP, BC Conservatives and BC Greens had not proposed any change to PTT. CentreBC promises specialized audit teams for PST, property transfer tax and the speculation tax, which is enforcement rather than a rate change. The BC Libertarian Party lists "reduce or eliminate property transfer tax." OneBC talks about "eliminating taxes that inflate housing prices" without naming which ones. Parties can still add promises before voting day. The B.C. Real Estate Association is asking the next government for a full review of PTT, including exempting homes below the B.C. average price, which it puts at $924,826.

2019/20$1.61B2020/21$2.10B2021/22$3.33B2022/23$2.29B2023/24$1.99B2024/25$2.01B2025/26$1.68B2026/27 forecast$1.63B

Source: B.C. 2026/27 First Quarterly Report (Sept 14, 2026), Table A5 actuals and forecast

Show the numbers

Fiscal year	PTT revenue
2019/20	$1.61B
2020/21	$2.10B
2021/22	$3.33B
2022/23	$2.29B
2023/24	$1.99B
2024/25	$2.01B
2025/26	$1.68B
2026/27 forecast	$1.63B

The revenue side is why I'm not holding my breath for a cut. PTT brought in $3.33 billion at the 2021/22 peak and $1.68 billion last year. In September the province cut this year's forecast to $1.63 billion, $305 million below budget, mainly because fewer homes are selling. The first-time buyers' exemption cost it $121 million in 2024/25 and the new-home exemption $96 million.

My read

FAQ

How much is property transfer tax in BC in 2026?

1% on the first $200,000 of fair market value, 2% from $200,000 to $2 million, 3% above $2 million, and a further 2% on residential value above $3 million. Between $200,000 and $2 million that works out to 2% of the price minus $2,000, so a $682,500 apartment pays $11,650.

Do first-time home buyers pay property transfer tax in BC?

Not on the first $500,000 if they qualify and the home is worth $835,000 or less, a saving of up to $8,000. The exemption shrinks between $835,000 and $860,000 and disappears at $860,000. On a $682,500 apartment a first-time buyer pays $3,650 instead of $11,650.

Is there property transfer tax on a new build or presale in BC?

A newly built home worth $1.1 million or less is fully exempt for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who makes it their principal residence, phasing out by $1.15 million. You can't also claim the first-time exemption on the same purchase. Presale PTT is based on the total paid, including upgrades and any assignment premium.

When is property transfer tax paid in BC?

When the transfer is registered at the Land Title Office, which is normally completion day. Your lawyer or notary files the return and pays the tax from your closing funds. A return is filed even if you're exempt.

Sources

1. Government of B.C.: Property transfer tax (rates, fair market value)
2. Property Transfer Tax Act (B.C. Laws, current to Oct 6, 2026)
3. Property Transfer Tax Regulation, s. 17.01-17.02 (20% rate, specified areas)
4. Government of B.C.: PTT calculation examples
5. Government of B.C.: Pre-sold strata units
6. Government of B.C.: First time home buyers' program
7. Government of B.C.: First time home buyers' exemption amounts
8. Government of B.C.: Newly built home exemption
9. Government of B.C.: Newly built home exemption amounts
10. Government of B.C.: Additional property transfer tax
11. Government of B.C.: Specified areas for the additional tax
12. Government of B.C.: Additional property transfer tax refunds and exemptions
13. Government of B.C.: File property transfer tax (payment, penalties, audits)
14. Government of B.C.: Filing for legal professionals (LTSA web return)
15. Government of B.C.: Purpose-built rental exemption
16. Government of B.C.: Tax changes by budget (Budget 2026)
17. B.C. Budget 2016: Budget and Fiscal Plan (3% rate, new-home exemption)
18. B.C. Budget 2018: Budget and Fiscal Plan (further 2%, 20% additional tax)
19. B.C. Budget 2024: Budget and Fiscal Plan (2024 threshold increases)
20. B.C. Budget 2026: Budget and Fiscal Plan (tax expenditures)
21. B.C. 2026/27 First Quarterly Report (PTT revenue)
22. Government of B.C.: B.C. home flipping tax
23. Greater Vancouver Realtors: September 2026 stats package
24. Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act
25. Finance Canada: two-year extension of the foreign buyer ban (Feb 4, 2024)
26. Canadian Mortgage Trends: Ottawa weighs future of foreign homebuyer ban (Oct 7, 2026)
27. CRA: First-time home buyers' GST/HST rebate, what you can get
28. CRA: First-time home buyers' GST/HST rebate, who can apply
29. Elections BC: 2026 provincial general election
30. Elections BC: candidates finalized for the 44th provincial general election
31. BC Ballot: party platform tracker (checked Oct 10, 2026)
32. CentreBC: 2026 platform
33. BC Libertarian Party: Affordable housing
34. OneBC: home page
35. BCREA: 2026 provincial election asks
36. EstateBlock.com: live listings by city (snapshot Oct 10, 2026)