Home sales in Vancouver plummeted 39.5 per cent in January from a year ago and fell 11 per cent from December, five months after the government slapped a tax on foreign buyers.

January marked the sixth consecutive month of falling sales in Canada's hottest real estate market, where an influx of mainly Chinese offshore buyers has helped push the price of a typical home to more than 12 times the median resident's household income.

Vancouver topped a list of cities around the world that UBS has identified as most at risk of a housing bubble. Sydney placed fourth after London and Stockholm.

The average benchmark price for detached properties in Canada's Pacific port has fallen 6.6 per cent in the past six months to $C1,474,800 ($1.475,000). Vancouver Tourism

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said the monthly sales - 1523 homes sold in January - marked a 10.3pc drop on the 10-year average for the month.

'It's a lukewarm start to the year compared to 2016," said Dan Morrison, the board's president.