Builders Will Oppose New Home Fees In HRM

Proposed new fees for builders of homes and apartment buildings in Halifax were described Tuesday as an unacceptable cash grab on the part of the municipality.

“If the municipality is having financial problems, it should get its own house in order before adding hundreds of dollars to the cost of buying a home,” Paul Pettipas, executive director of the Nova Scotia Homebuilders’ Association, said in an interview.

Consultants working for the municipality have recommended new fees — $2,000 for each home and $1,600 for each apartment — to cover the expansion of fire protection, library and recreation costs in newly developed areas.

There is also a 90-cent-per-square-metre fee for non-residential uses.

The new fees would generate about $3.5 million for the municipality.

Pettipas made his comments just hours before Halifax regional council agreed by a 17-1 vote to ask the province to amend its municipal charter so city hall can move ahead with the new fees.

If the province agrees, it could still be years before the legislation is changed, Richard Butts, the city’s chief administrative officer, told council.

A consultant’s study says growth in Halifax Regional Municipality “should pay for itself” and not burden existing taxpayers.

Capital cost contributions are paid by developers “and are intended to recover the growth-related portion of infrastructure that is needed” in a particular area, says the report.

Coun. Sue Uteck (Northwest Arm-South End) opposed sending the request to the Dexter government because she feels the municipality needs more input from the local development sector.

Pettipas said builders of homes and apartments in the municipality will oppose the new fees every step of the way.

“Homeowners in the city already pay for these services through their taxes. Instead of getting its financial house in order the municipality is going to try to take the easy way out and unfairly hike fees for home purchasers,” he said.

The consultants who prepared the recommendation did not meet with housing industry representatives to discuss the implications of the fee, which Pettipas said is part of the current closed atmosphere at city hall.

The construction industry, which employs about 17,000 people in Halifax, will feel the pain of a slowdown if the new fees are approved, he predicted.

Pettipas said fees and taxes already add 20 per cent to the purchase price in subdivisions and apartment buildings

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1263110.html

September 2011 Market Update

The national housing market remains firmly planted in balanced territory. Year-to-date sales continue to run in line with the ten-year average. While remaining above last year’s level, average home prices have moderated to the lowest level since January, reflecting both seasonality in many local markets and diminishing shares of provincial and national sales activity in pricier Vancouver and most recently the Toronto market. A steady number of new homes listed also bodes well for the future.

While debt woes on both sides of the Atlantic remain a downside risk to the outlook, Canada’s gradually improving domestic landscape provides some margin of safety. According to the Bank of Canada, “To the extent that the expansion continues and the current material excess supply in the economy is gradually absorbed, some of the considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will be withdrawn, consistent with achieving the 2% inflation target.”

While a rate hike may be looming over the near-term outlook, interest rates remain historically low and present great opportunity to buy a property with extremely favourable financing.