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Loveday said there are a number of Victoria properties that have “lots of vacant units in them.

“There are also derelict properties that are vacant, and to be able to apply a tax on those might encourage the owners of those properties to bring them into shape and bring them back on line as housing,” Loveday said, adding that city staff are collecting data on the number of vacant units.

The two are are not proposing immediate implementation of a tax on vacant properties, but rather the authority to levy such a tax if warranted by the data, Loveday said.

Isitt said they want Victoria city council to forward the issue to the CRD because it would be good policy to apply such taxes regionally.

If the resolution makes it to the CRD table, there’s no guarantee it would pass.

The Victoria Real Estate Board says predictions that foreign buyers would flock to Victoria after the tax was imposed in Vancouver have not materialized.

According to the board’s latest numbers, the percentage of property transfers involving foreign buyers in Victoria went from 3.9 per cent in June-August, before the tax was implemented in Metro Vancouver, to 4.6 per cent in November.

Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen said he would want to see “an up-to-date analysis” on what impact the tax has had on the Vancouver market before making a decision.

“Now that there is a track record of approximately six months, the first step is to see how it has affected prices and impacted the Vancouver market generally,” Jensen said.