Yeah, I think you're right kb. And like I said to mk, my feeling is that their participation is closer to 25%. That 5% was taken from a dubious BC government study that was done with not enough sampling and in too short of a time frame to get an accurate sense of the market. Ultimately doesn't matter because that only tracks foreign buyers anyway. What is more important is the foreign money, which is more likely funneled into the country through other means and difficult to trace.

BC started levying a 15% surcharge on foreign sales between last August and this August

It's even crazier than that. The tax went into affect on August 2nd, this year, with very little warning. So while June and July also had a slow down, August had a precipitous, jaw-dropping slow down. But it's not likely that the 510 homes that weren't sold this month falls entirely on the shoulders of foreign buyers. The way I see it is that the foreign buyer has kind of become the monster in the closet in Vancouver. Where even if it exists, the idea of it is more potent and pervasive than the actual thing. That, combined with the fact that the market has become so focused on investment and speculation has made people just stop to wait and see what's going to happen.