The $34.5-million sale of a 10.09-acre site in the Metro Vancouver city of Surrey to developer BM Group is a sign of faith in the resilience of the local housing market, said the broker behind the transaction.

Surrey-based Khela Real Estate Group brokered the deal to Coquitlam-based BM Group, which plans to develop 173 townhomes on the property at 9330, 9306 and 9348 Bothwell Dr. It is within the Anniedale Tynehead plan, a 1,008-acre area of east Surrey designated to provide homes for up to 20,000 residents.

The deal is the largest so far this year for multi-unit development land in the Fraser Valley, Harp Khela, the president of Khela Real Estate Group, said in an interview with RENX Homes.

“It’s a big win for the community. It’s a big win for Surrey. It’s a big win for the developer,” he said about the sale.

After a tough 2025 for the Surrey housing industry, which faced the slowest sales year since 2000 according to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, Khela said it is “a positive story that we have sizable deals occurring in the market,” with developers like BM Group proceeding with land purchases for significant developments.

First townhome project in Anniedale Tynehead plan

The seller of the 10.09-acre property was a local investment group which originally began developing the land, Khela said. The site was assembled from three separate properties.

BM Group was attracted to the property because it is located in a highly desirable new area, Khela said.

Price-wise, the sale is a sign of the times in the regional housing market, he added. At the peak of the market around three to four years ago, the price for approved townhome development land in the region was over $500,000 per door. With the latest sale, it was approximately $200,000 per door.

“It really gives a clear indicator of how much the price (has) adjusted on land in a short period of time and what the market is dealing with as far as the price adjustment on land values,” Khela said.

As currently planned, the intent is to build three- and four-bedroom townhomes ranging from 1,400 to just under 1,700 square feet, according to Milan Mann, president of BM Group. The three-bedroom homes are expected to start in the high $800,000s, while the ceiling for the four-bedroom products would likely be around $1 million, he added.

Sales are anticipated to start in spring 2027, with the first residents to be welcomed by the end of of 2027 through to 2030, Mann said.

BM Group’s project is expected to be the first townhome project to be developed in the Anniedale Tynehead plan. The plan is a neighbourhood concept created in 2012 to guide the development of an area that has been largely agricultural land.

The first stage of the plan designates land for a variety of residential projects. It proposes multifamily products like multiplexes and apartments, plus detached, laneway, row and semi-detached homes.

Neighbourhood’s residents will be close to a regional park and nearby highways 1, 15 and 17.

Deal could boost market confidence, broker says

BM Group's acquisition of the property demonstrates the industry’s trust in the value of housing, Khela said. It shows an expectation that even in uncertain, downcast conditions, the “future is still looked upon to be bright.”

Deal of this size tend to ripple across the industry to “assist the market in bolstering other people’s confidence to continue developing” or maintain a positive outlook.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation forecasts a moderate recovery for resale activity in Metro Vancouver this year. The Crown corporation also expects area home prices to stabilize in 2026, with the possibility of small increases.

But it also predicts housing starts to decline because of high construction costs and weak demand.

Density is going to be a “big conversation” in the Fraser Valley housing market, Khela said. He noted the cyclical nature of demand, which went from high interest in low-density products like single-family lots and townhomes a few years ago to a focus on more dense housing types such as six-storey condos and highrises.

Now, townhomes are easier to develop because companies can control the speed of projects and scale the releases according to market conditions and the best financing options, Khela explained. He expects single-family homes and townhomes to be the favoured choices for many developers.

Khela anticipates fewer higher density projects going forward compared to the past few years.

With greater difficulties for financing land designed for development in the long-term, Khela also expects larger builder-developers to have an eye out for properties that can be developed in the short-term.