Presale or Resale Condo in Kelowna: How to Decide (2026)

The table sets the main differences next to each other. Each row is explained further down the page.

First-time buyers of a new home may recover the full 5% GST, up to $50,000, on a home priced at $1,000,000 or less, with a reduced rebate up to $1,500,000. The purchase agreement has to be signed on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031, and you must not have lived in a home you or your spouse owned in that calendar year or the four before it. A resale home generally carries no GST at all, which is often the largest single difference for a buyer who is not a first-time buyer.

Transfer tax runs the other way. The newly built home exemption removes the tax on a new home worth up to $1,100,000, with a partial exemption up to $1,150,000. You need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, the home must be your principal residence, and you must move in within 92 days of registration and live there for the rest of the first year. It is not limited to first-time buyers. On a resale, only first-time buyers get relief: The first time home buyers' program removes the tax on the first $500,000 of value, an exemption worth up to $8,000, for a home worth up to $835,000, with a smaller exemption up to $860,000. It requires at least a year of BC residence before registration, or two BC tax returns in the last six years.

A presale bought from a developer comes with the Real Estate Development Marketing Act's seven-day right to cancel without penalty, counted from the later of signing and acknowledging the disclosure statement.

Most resale homes, including strata condos and townhouses, come with BC's Home Buyer Rescission Period: three business days after your offer is accepted, with written notice and a fee of 0.25% of the price. It does not apply to homes on leased land, leasehold interests, auctions or court-ordered sales.

With a resale, the home, the view and the neighbours exist. With a presale, BCFSA lists the risks plainly: completion can be delayed, the developer may change a layout or substitute materials of similar quality, and if the appraisal at completion comes in under your price, your lender may lend less than you planned.

Timing cuts both ways. A resale suits a buyer who needs to move this year. A presale suits a buyer who can wait, wants the years before completion to save, or is selling a house on its own timeline.

Resale financing is arranged before your subjects are removed, on a home a lender can appraise today. Presale financing is usually finalized near completion, so rates and your own finances can change in between. Since December 15, 2024, insured mortgages can be amortized over 30 years for all first-time buyers and for all buyers of a newly built home, and the price cap for an insured mortgage is $1,500,000.

On a resale, read the strata's minutes, its depreciation report, its current budget and its bylaws, and ask about upcoming special levies. On a presale, read the disclosure statement: BCFSA points to estimated construction dates (section 5.1), estimated strata fees (3.8), bylaws (3.5) and parking (3.6).

BC's home flipping tax applies to profit from selling a home, or assigning a presale contract, held less than 730 days. The rate is 20% within the first 365 days and falls to zero by day 730. For a presale, the days count from the date you entered the contract.

Serenity is a presale of 33 homes at 1085 Martin Avenue, so everything on the presale side of this page applies to it. Its pricing, deposit schedule, estimated strata fees and completion dates have not been released; they will be set out in the disclosure statement you receive before signing.

Use the list to decide which timeline and which protections fit you. Tick the ones you have settled.