A flash sale at the Belvedere condominium tower in Surrey, B.C., led to 63 units sold last weekend, according to B.C. Business.

The newly completed units are move-in ready as opposed to those often marketed through a presale campaign while under construction.

The one-day event, dubbed Condo Day, drew hundreds of prosective buyers and investors as Burnaby, B.C.-based Square Nine Developments offered steep discounts on move-in-ready concrete homes. Of the 78 homes released, just 15 remain available, including some returned by previous buyers who failed to close, according to B.C. Business.

Units sold for an average of $725 per square foot—roughly 25% below the typical $1,125 per square foot in the local market. Buyers began lining up as early as the night before, with nearly 200 people waiting outside the sales centre by noon on Saturday. The purchases were evenly split between owner-occupiers and investors, B.C. Business reported.

The event was organized by Cam Good, a Key Marketing partner who is leading the sales effort for Square Nine. Good previously used similar tactics during the 2008 market downturn.

“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 B.C. Business.

The discount offer came as condo developers across Canada are grappling with buyer cancellations of pre-sale contracts and slower sales due to changes in lending conditions and property prices and new macroeconomic factors, including the effects of U.S. tariffs and would-be buyers’ concerns about their future income stability.

In many cases, including this one, buyers have voluntarily forfeited their deposits to ease the financial pressures.

Good told B.C. Business that flash sales like Condo Day are cost-effective compared to traditional marketing.

“Condo Day generates leads for just $22 to $26 each, compared to traditional marketing where developers might spend around $300 to acquire a single lead,” he told B.C. Business.

The Lower Mainland market, in particular, has felt the impact of slower condo sales. Condo marketing firm Rennie and Associates has projected that the region’s strata-residential inventory will increase 60% by year-end 2025.

Pictured: Belvedere condominium tower in Surrey, B.C.

Photo: Key Marketing