First-Time Buyers: A New Condo in Kelowna

Each program has its own definition, so check them one at a time. A buyer can qualify for one and not another.

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.

On a presale, the rebate is tested on the day ownership transfers to you, not the day you sign, so your situation at completion is what counts. You also need to be the first person to live in the home after it is built.

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.

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.

On a new home, the newly built exemption is usually worth more, because it removes the whole tax up to $1,100,000. On a presale strata home bought at arm's length, the tax is generally based on the total amount you paid, including upgrades and any assignment premium, rather than the value on the day the title registers.

A First Home Savings Account gives $8,000 of contribution room in its first year, to a lifetime limit of $40,000. Contributions are generally tax-deductible and a qualifying withdrawal for a first home is tax-free.

The Home Buyers' Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSPs for a qualifying home. For a first withdrawal made between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2028, repayment starts in the fifth year after the year of the first withdrawal. You can use the Home Buyers' Plan and an FHSA withdrawal for the same home, as long as you meet the conditions for each.

The minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% of the portion above it, for homes under $1,500,000. At $1,500,000 or more it is 20%.

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. With less than 20% down, the mortgage must be insured, and the insurance premium is usually added to the loan.

BC gives presale buyers seven days to cancel a purchase contract without penalty. The seven days start on the later of the day you sign the contract and the day you give the developer your acknowledgement that you had the chance to read the disclosure statement. Deposits are paid on a schedule set in the contract and held in trust; Serenity's schedule has not been published.

Mortgage approval for a presale is usually finalized near completion, so get pre-qualified early and plan for rates and your finances to change. BCFSA also warns that if the home appraises below your price at completion, the lender may lend less than you planned, leaving a gap you would cover in cash.