![\"foreign](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/foreign-buyers-data.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: <\/span><\/i>Kenny Louie\/Flickr<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\nMetro Vancouver\u2019s new <\/span>foreign buyers tax<\/span><\/a> came into effect on August 2nd, and since then there\u2019s <\/span>been<\/span><\/a> much<\/span><\/a> discussion<\/span><\/a> of the impact it could have on home sales and prices in the area. The BC government has now provided the <\/span>first data on foreign investment<\/span><\/a> in residential real estate since the tax was introduced, and it confirms what many experts anticipated \u2014 foreign buyer activity in Metro Vancouver has seen a huge drop since the beginning of August. <\/span><\/p>\n Released September 22nd, the data shows that from August 2nd to 31st only 0.9 per cent of residential real estate transactions in Metro Vancouver involved foreign buyers. Those transactions were valued at $46.9 million, and as a result of the new tax generated $2.5 million in revenue for the BC government. In contrast, foreign buyers were involved in just over 13 per cent of Metro Vancouver residential real estate transactions from June 10th to August 1st.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think it is fair to say we have had an impact. That was the impact we wanted to have,\u201d BC Premier Christy Clark <\/span>said Thursday<\/span><\/a>. She added that her \u201chope is that many of those units that would have sold to foreign buyers, will now be sold to British Columbians.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n June 10th is the day that the BC government began collecting data on foreign buyers, and from then until August 31st, 9.3 per cent of Metro Vancouver residential real estate transactions valued at $2.3 billion involved foreign buyers. According to the BC government, July 29th, the last day sales could be registered before the tax was put in place, was by far the busiest in terms of foreign buyer activity \u2014\u00a0on that day, foreign buyers were involved in 55 per cent of Metro Vancouver residential real estate deals. <\/span><\/p>\n While it seems clear that the new tax is having an effect on foreign buying in Metro Vancouver, the BC government has emphasized that \u201cit will take more time to conclude what effect the additional property transfer tax on foreign buyers has had on the real estate market.\u201d Similarly, Clark said, \u201c[i]t is really early days. We have three months of data. You’ll see those numbers change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Chart: <\/span><\/i>Province of BC<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Chart: <\/span><\/i>Province of BC<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n