Metro Vancouver real-estate sales to foreign nationals have remained low for a second month following the introduction of a new tax on those transactions.

According to new data released by the B.C. Ministry of Finance, there were 5,150 property transfers recorded during September and only 92 of them involved foreign buyers. That amounts to just 1.8 percent of the total.

On August 2, the B.C. government implemented a 15-percent tax on Metro Vancouver real-estate sales to foreign buyers.

Between that date and August 31, foreign nationals accounted for 0.9 percent of transactions.

The provincial government has released numbers irregularly to establish five reporting periods. Here they are with corresponding numbers for the percentage of Metro Vancouver sales that went to foreign nations.

1. June 10 – June 29 : 5.1 percent (260 of 5,118 sales)
2. June 30 – July 14 : 14.9 percent (675 of 4,518 sales)
3. July 15 – August 1 : 19.5 percent (1,039 of 5,342 sales)
4. August 2 – August31 : 0.9 percent (60 of 6,964 sales)
5. September 1 – September 31 : 1.8 percent (92 of 5,150 sales)

The government announced the tax on sales to foreign buyers on July 25.

A media release issued today (October 28) with the latest round of data cautions that the market is likely still in a period of fluctuation as it reacts to the new tax.

“Data from the coming months will provide a more accurate picture of how the market is changing with the additional property transfer tax in place,” it reads.