A Kamloops realtor suggests the proposed house flipping tax, announced by BC Premier David Eby will create more rental properties in the city.

BC’s “Homes for People Plan” proposes a potential house flipping tax could be coming soon, which Premier David Eby says is aimed at discouraging people from buying a home, renovating it in a short period, and selling it for a higher price.

While house flipping became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, Relator Quinn Pache’s high rent prices and a lack of rental properties in Kamloops have caused a shift.

“As we are going into this year, we are seeing a little bit more of a switch from people wanting to flip houses to people just going into buying investment properties to rent.”

Pache suggests the flipping tax will likely address the lack of available rental units in Kamloops, which has caused rental prices to skyrocket.

“The thing with Kamloops which blows people’s mind from the coast and other areas is there is not a lot of rentals, so the rental rates charged in Kamloops are astronomical for the price of the house.”

Due to the lack of rental properties available, Pache suggests a lot of people are realizing that Kamloops is a good market to invest in.

“So a lot of people are saying ‘Okay, you know what, Kamloops is a good market for me to invest in and I’m gonna buy and hold.’ I think that’s what we’re gonna see a lot more of going forward.”

Also part of the BC Governments multi-year, multi-billion dollar housing plan includes an emphasis on creating multi-unit housing units such as duplexes, tri-plexes, and row housing, to prioritize the interest of people looking to buy a home to live in.