Around 4,700 homes worth $3.6 billion were sold in Metro Vancouver in October.

According to the province, 140 of these properties valued at $115 million were acquired by buyers, who are neither Canadians nor permanent residents.

This puts the level of foreign participation in the real-estate market of the Lower Mainland last month to three percent.

It’s an increase from the 1.8 percent rate of foreign purchases in September.

However, the province notes in a media release that three percent level is much lower than the 13.2 percent rate of foreign investments in Metro Vancouver before the additional 15 percent property tax was imposed on foreigners starting on August 2.

“There is a period of distortion in the market any time a tax is introduced or changed,” according to the release. “Many transactions that would have occurred in the months following the introduction of the tax were moved to July to avoid the tax.”

“As time goes on and the market readjusts, trends such as the rate and volume of foreign demand will normalize to levels we can expect to continue.”

The province also notes that it will monitor closely what is happening in the Capital Regional District in Vancouver Island, where the additional property tax does not apply.

According to the province, foreign buyers accounted for 6.3 percent of real-estate transactions and 10.3 percent of the total value of sales last October in the capital district, which includes the City of Victoria.