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Vancouver’s surge in house prices of 36 per cent over the past year was by far the highest in the world, but the new 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers is expected to slow the growth, according to a group that tracks housing prices in 37 cities.

Vancouver topped the ranking for the fifth consecutive quarter of the Prime Global Cities Index released by Knight Frank on Friday.

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The 36.4 per cent hike was far and away the biggest hike among all cities, far outpacing the average gain of 4.4 per cent from June 2015 to June 2016.

The city with the second-highest price growth was Singapore, at 22.5 per cent. The only other Canadian city listed was Toronto, with a 12.6 per cent increase over the same time period, the fourth highest overall.

The authors predicted price inflation in Vancouver “is expected to slow in light of a new tax for foreign buyers.”

B.C.’s new 15 per cent property transfer tax assessed for non-Canadian buyers came into effect on Aug. 2.