Realtor Jill Carter says there are two different property markets along B.C.’s scenic Sea-to-Sky Highway.

One is the busy scene in Whistler. The other is Squamish, where Carter lives and works and which reflects the overall downward trend in the region covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

“We’ve seen a little bit of softening,” Carter told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview about the real-estate market in her town.

Based on statistics released by the REBGV on November 2, combined sales of townhouses and condos in Whistler and Pemberton (about 32 kilometres north of Whistler) increased in October by 40 percent and 25 percent, respectively, compared to September. However, sales of detached homes fell 37.5 percent.

In Squamish, sales of townhouses increased by 40 percent in October compared to September, although sales of condos dropped by 23 percent. Sales of detached homes decreased 42 percent.

Across the entire REBGV region, which extends from South Delta to the Sunshine Coast, total residential sales last month were 15 percent below the 10-year October sales average. The decline in sales accelerated following the July 25 announcement by the province of an additional 15-percent property tax for foreign buyers in the Lower Mainland.

The federal government has also moved to tighten the property market across the country, with stricter mortgage rules starting October 17.

However, Squamish is poised for growth, with a number of new real-estate developments coming in 2017. Summits View, by the Delta-based Solterra Group of Companies, is the sixth and final development in a 10-hectare master-planned community known as Eaglewind. This phase will add 50 three-bedroom townhomes to the town known as the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada.

Another project is the Soleil, a two- and three-bedroom townhouse project that Carter was preparing for a sales launch when she was reached for an interview.

Confident of a market rebound in Squamish, Carter said: “The new developments are coming strong and bringing a lot of people that, you know, can’t afford Vancouver still. They’re coming here.”

Elsewhere along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, a Chinese developer, the Taicheng Development Corporation, has proposed to build 1,000 new homes in the community of Britannia Beach over the next several years.

Also in Britannia Beach, the Institute for Research, Communication, and Development, a nonprofit identified with Opus Dei, a Catholic Church institution, plans to develop a conference and religious-retreat centre. The project will cost at least $12 million.

Over at the town of Lions Bay, realtor Dale Falconer noted from his office that the municipality follows the same pattern as the Greater Vancouver area.

“We’re now more into a balanced market or a slower market than we were in the beginning of the year,” Falconer told the Straight by phone.

Falconer, who has sold homes in Lions Bay for almost 20 years, said the small town north of West Vancouver will continue to draw buyers because of its spectacular Howe Sound ocean views and mountain backdrop.

“We typically attract buyers from North Vancouver,” he said. “North Vancouver is a large segment of our marketplace. In other words, people who can’t afford to buy in North Vancouver will come to Lions Bay because they get a little bit more for their money, when you consider the setting.”

Over in Whistler, realtor Stephanie Sloan noted that many buyers already have principal residences elsewhere, including the Lower Mainland. They are shopping for secondary properties.

“A lot of people are buying so that they have a place where their families can come and be together, you know, at Christmas and holidays and things,” Sloan told the Straight by phone. “So it would be multigenerational: grandparents and their kids and then their grandchildren.”

Last April, ski-resort operator Whistler Blackcomb announced a $345-million development plan. It includes, among other things, a new lift, an outdoor adventure park, an indoor adventure centre and water park, up to 65 townhouses, and a luxury boutique hotel, residence, and club.

The Whistler Blackcomb project may require an amendment to the town’s official community plan.