PQ wants to give young, first-time homeowners a mortgage-rate rebate
13 Feb 2024
Saying he wants his party to address the generational inequity faced by young, first-time homeowners in Quebec, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on Monday announced a series of measures aimed at improving access to the province’s residential real estate market.
The PQ is proposing that first time buyers enjoy a rebate of 3.5 per cent off the current mortgage rate, through loan guarantees and negotiations with financial institutions.
In the case of a $525,000 home purchased with a 10-per-cent down payment, with a 3.5-per-cent interest rate rather than seven per cent, the monthly payments would decrease from $3,308 to $2,358, an annual savings of $11,400.
The PQ would also double the tax credit on the purchase of a first home to $3,000 from $1,500, and the maximum provincial sales tax refund on the construction of a home would be set at $20,000.
The PQ’s mortgage rate proposal bears more than a passing resemblance to the Mon taux, mon toit plan of Robert Bourassa in the early 1990s, as well as the Corvée habitation program launched in 1982 by the PQ government of René Lévesque. Québec solidaire proposed a similar plan during its caucus meeting last January.
The PQ also intends to reduce pressure on the housing market by lowering the levels of temporary and permanent immigration, although St-Pierre Plamondon had no figures to offer immediately, referring the question to further analyses.
The PQ leader said he hopes to inspire the Legault government as the tabling of spring budget approaches, criticizing what he described as its general apathy when it comes to housing and access to the property market.
