MONTREAL — Experts say a pair of Liberal proposals to make home ownership more attainable would have a negligible impact, particularly in markets like Vancouver, Victoria and the Greater Toronto Area where home prices continue to soar beyond the reach of many.

The Liberals rolled out proposals for a nationwide foreign buyers tax and an expanded assistance program for first-time home buyers in those three cities as part of their election campaign.

Tsur Somerville, a real estate expert at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, says a one per cent tax on buyers abroad would deter speculation, but smaller communities that rely on U.S. tourists — like Mont Tremblant, Que., and Whistler, B.C. — could wind up hurting from fewer consumers and sagging real estate prices.