The number of Vancouver homes declared vacant has dropped 15 per cent since the implementation of the Empty Homes Tax, according to numbers released by the city Wednesday.
There were 922 properties declared vacant by the Feb. 4 deadline, compared to the 1,085 declared vacant by the deadline last year.
Officials said just over half of those properties now occupied are being rented out to tenants.
"The year-over-year numbers are very encouraging," Mayor Kennedy Stewart said in a news release.
"The main objective of Vancouver’s Empty Homes Tax is to influence property owners to put their empty properties on the rental market and the data shows that is happening."
The Empty Homes Tax took effect in 2017, and homeowners were given until March 5, 2018 to declare their homes as occupied, exempt or vacant.
People with vacant homes are dinged with a hefty tax of one per cent of their property's assessed taxable value, resulting in $38 million in revenue for the city in the first year.
There are a number of exemptions, including for people who live in the city part-time for work, and other homeowners can avoid the tax if they rent out their property for just six months of the year.
The neighbourhoods with the highest number of vacant or exempt properties in 2017 were Shaughnessy and the West End. The Sunset neighbourhood in South Vancouver had the lowest number of exemptions and vacancies.
Condos accounted for 60 per cent of exempt and vacant properties that year, while single-family homes accounted for 34 per cent and multi-family homes made up two per cent.
According to the city, 97 per cent of property owners made their declaration by Monday's deadline. People will be allowed to make a late declaration online starting Thursday, but will have to pay a $250 penalty.
