BC Business
A one-day event in Surrey City Centre revives recession-era sales tactics, raising questions about what it means for developers, inventory and buyer psychology in a cooling market
A rare real estate flash sale in Surrey City Centre made waves on May 31. Burnaby-based Square Nine Developments slashed prices on its Belvedere condo tower, drawing hundreds of prospective buyers and investors. The one-day-only event, “CONDODAY,” marked a significant deviation from typical sales approaches in Metro Vancouver’s high-stakes housing market, offering move-in-ready concrete homes at roughly 25 percent below prior pricing.
By noon on Saturday, the buzz was palpable. Nearly 200 people had lined up outside the sales centre, some having camped out overnight for a chance at discounted ownership. Priced at an average of $725 per square foot, the units were offered at a steep markdown from the local norm of $1,125 per square foot. Of the 78 homes released, 63 were sold by Monday, an even split between investors and owner-occupiers. The remaining units, including some reclaimed from buyers who failed to close on earlier contracts, are still on the market at the discounted rate.
Organized by real estate strategist Cam Good of Key Marketing, the flash sale leveraged a bulk sales model last seen in Metro Vancouver during the 2008 downturn. Back then, Good helped move hundreds of unsold units for developers struggling under market pressure. Sixteen years later, a similar playbook is being deployed under different—but equally volatile—conditions. “We are in a market where it’s been a quite systematic deconstruction of a healthy real estate market by, frankly, all three levels of government, resulting in a very long downturn,” Good told BCBusiness.
And the timing wasn’t arbitrary. A report published this spring by found that more than 2,000 new condos in Metro Vancouver are currently unsold and sitting empty—a number expected to climb to nearly 3,500 by the end of 2025.
The case for creative, offbeat tactics like “CONDODAY,” according to Good, lies in the cost-effectiveness and lead generation for real estate developers. Specifically, Condo Day generates leads for just $22-$26 each, compared to traditional marketing where developers might spend around $300 to acquire a single lead, he said. In a slow market, those traditional leads cost about $3,000 to convert into a sales centre conversation, with only a 5-10 percent closing rate.
By contrast, a flash sale brings hundreds of potential buyers directly to the sales centre, dramatically reducing customer acquisition costs and providing a more efficient marketing approach for developers in a challenging real estate market.
Buyers, on the other hand, are largely driven by a sense of safety and crowd validation, explains Good. “When buyers see dozens of other people buying, they feel safe. They want to buy, and they feel validated by all the other people buying at the same time. So, it’s really the selling environment that is the secret sauce of ‘CONDODAY.'”