Nick Baronian, a Vancouver realtor, wrote an opinion piece in Daily Hive this fall about a strange moment in B.C. housing. Thousands of finished homes are sitting unsold, and at the same time builders have nearly stopped starting new ones. CMHC reported that condo apartment starts in Vancouver fell another 40 per cent in the first half of 2026, and it warned that weak condo construction threatens the supply of homes people can buy in a few years.
His argument is about policy. He thinks a tax on completed, unsold condos would only make the next project harder to start. I’ll leave that one to the people in Victoria.
What interests me is the buyer standing in a finished, empty unit with a sales rep who wants it gone before year end. That buyer has more leverage than anyone buying new in Surrey has had for a long time. The financing is where it can go sideways.
Lenders look at the real price
Builders are offering a lot right now: cash back on completion, a year of strata fees, upgraded appliances, closing costs paid. Some of that is fine. The cash is what catches people.
If the contract says $699,000 and the builder hands you $25,000 at completion, most lenders treat the price as $674,000. Your down payment and your mortgage are worked out from the lower number. That can leave a buyer short at the last minute. My advice is simple: get every incentive written into the contract, and send me the whole contract, not just the first page.
The appraisal has to agree
On a brand-new building there may be few resales to compare against. If the appraiser can’t support the price, the lender lends on the lower value and you cover the gap. A builder who is cutting prices on the next floor up can also pull down the value of yours. Ask what similar units in the building actually sold for, not the list prices.
Builder financing needs to be disclosed
Some builders are offering to buy down your rate for a year or two, or to carry a second mortgage themselves. Both can work. Both have to be disclosed to your lender, and a builder second counts as debt when you qualify. Hiding it is mortgage fraud, and lenders do find out at closing.
The upside
A completed home has none of the waiting that comes with a presale. You can walk through it, the strata budget is real, and you can move in on a date you choose. If you’re a first-time buyer, check whether you qualify for the federal GST rebate on new homes. On a new build it can be worth tens of thousands.
If you’re looking at a finished unit in Surrey, send me the contract and the incentive sheet before you sign. I’ll tell you what a lender will count, and what you’ll need in the bank on completion day.
