New data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reveal a sluggish market in January.

There were only 1,523 sales, which is 10.3 percent below the average for January over the past 10 years.

It's a whopping 39.5 percent below the 2,519 sales recorded in January 2016.

“From a real estate perspective, it’s a lukewarm start to the year compared to 2016,” REBGV president Dan Morrison said in a news release. “While we saw near record-breaking sales at this time last year, home buyers and sellers are more reluctant to engage so far in 2017.”

Listings were down 6.8 percent last month compared to the same month in 2016.

According to the REBGV, the benchmark price for residential properties is $896,000, down 3.7 percent from July 2016.

In August, the B.C. government imposed a 15 percent tax on Lower Mainland residential sales to foreign buyers.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver includes most of the Lower Mainland and parts of the Sea-to-Sky corridor. But it doesn't encompass North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, and Langley, which are all part of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.