First-time home buyers in Toronto to get tax rebate

It's not easy to buy a home in Toronto, considering the average price for a detached house is sitting above the $1 million mark. However, the government of Ontario is giving first-time home buyers across the province a little bit of a break.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced today, as the Toronto Star reports, that first-time buyers will get a $4,000 land tax transfer rebate. This means they won't pay land transfer tax on the $386,000 of their house. In some cases, like those buying condos (under the average price of $429,407) for instance, won't pay any land transfer tax at all.

The province will pay for this by upping the land transfer taxes for others - houses that cost $2 million or more will be subject to a rate of 2.5 per cent, up from 2 per cent.

In Toronto, as the Star notes, buyers will still have the city's land transfer tax levy, which was introduced in 2008.

Photo via House of the Week.