Sun Peaks saw a jump in home sales last month which one realtor is attributing to awareness province-wide.

Liz Forster of Sotheby’s Realty says the resort municipality is seeing an influx of buyers who want an alternative to Whistler.

“We’re finding that people are looking for alternatives to the big resort feeling of Whistler, and finding Sun Peaks quite refreshing,” Forster says, adding that three per cent of all buyers last year in Sun Peaks last year resided directly in Whistler.

“It wasn’t that long ago I’d go to Vancouver and people would say ‘Sun Peaks, where’s that?’ But that doesn’t happened anymore. Now, the Lower Mainland is very well aware of Sun Peaks. And Lower Mainlanders, many of them are looking for an alternative to the urban lifestyle, and looking towards many different destinations in B.C.’s Interior.”

Despite the relatively higher cost of property compared to Kamloops and other nearby communities, Forster says many Sun Peaks buyers last year were locals.

“Over 35 per cent of the buyers were actually from Sun Peaks and Kamloops, so a huge portion of the buyers actually are local buyers wanting to get into the market. And I think a lot of locals feel the sense first that Sun Peaks is moving ahead now, and it’s time they got in.”

Last month, there were 18 real estate transactions in the resort municipality, which made it the second-most active zone for sales in the Kamloops area, behind only Sahali.