Foreign ownership in Canada's top condo markets dropped in 2016 after the introduction of a foreign buyers tax in Vancouver, and remains a small fraction of overall ownership concentrated mostly in newer buildings, Canada's housing agency said on Wednesday

Two-thirds of B.C. residents are skeptical about the effectiveness of the newly introduced foreign ownership tax, according to a new poll.

Public outcry over British Columbia's sizzling real estate market pushed the province's Liberal government to introduce a foreign-buyers' tax last month, but uncertainty around the policy leaves little room for political manoeuvring before next year's election, once the impact of the tax is better understood, experts say.