Some developers fear that the new HST will devastate the construction industry, which employs tens of thousands of British Columbians.
New home construction is up 77 per cent compared to this time one year ago, but the HST could change that.
"The new home building industry was just getting back on its knees," said Doug Day of the University Heights Development Corp.
The HST won't necessarily mean that people will stop buying condos, but they may stop buying new ones.
The HST on a new $650,000 unit will run more than $50,000.
A used unit at a similar price will carry no HST at all.
"If you talk to people in the house-building industry, it's going to be devastating," Day said.
The new tax has already impacted the second phase of Day's new development in Squamish.
"We cancelled it, throwing 100 people out of work," he said.
"The HST adds about $26,000 to the house, and that with interest rates creeping up -- there's just no way. It doesn't work anymore."
The B.C. Construction Trades Council's Wayne Peppard predicted that the residential housing market will be hit hard by the tax -- for builders and buyers, the pain hits on July 1.
"I predict that you're probably going to see a lot of sale between now and the deadline, but then it's going to drop off significantly," he told CTV News.
"For those contractors and sub-contractors that are struggling with razor thin margins, getting through the last few years and starting to get the steam built up again, this is going to really hurt."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
