$60M court-ordered land sale part of Surrey trend

A Surrey property that has been designated for a townhouse development is now on the market in a court-ordered sale as a growing number of distressed properties offers another sign of an imploding housing market.

The 29.5-acre, mostly-vacant property at 2608 – 176 St. is now for sale for $60 million after the court made a ruling in a bankruptcy case.

More and more developers are getting caught in a cash crunch as sales have dried up, leaving them unable to either start or complete projects already underway.

Some are unable to keep up with the mortgages on vacant land purchased for future developments. Interest rates for properties bought during the boom of 2020 to 2022 are also shifting, leaving people with far-higher costs.

According to real estate site Zealty, the inventory of court-ordered sales rose from 66 in October 2024 and 28 in October 2023 to 119 in the same month in 2025.

In Surrey, out of more than 4,300 homes for sale, just 487 sold in the past month, said Zealty.

The Surrey property is located in Redwood Heights Area 4 neighbourhood plan and is designated for townhouses.

Redwood Heights is located at the easterly end of the Grandview Heights community. It is bounded by the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) to the north and east, 20 Avenue and the existing Redwood Estates to the south and 176 Street (Highway 15) to the west. It has an area of approximately 201 hectares (497 acres) and currently includes 92 properties.

Redwood Heights is the fourth master planned neighbourhood within the broader Grandview Heights community.

“The Plan was developed through a community planning process supported by a series of background studies, comprehensive community engagement and a detailed engineering servicing review,” said the City of Surrey.