Surrey

Surrey Community Profile

Surrey is an absolute powerhouse. With a population of 568,322 representing a 9.7% surge since 2016, it is rapidly positioning itself as the economic gravity well of the Lower Mainland. If you are writing residential mortgage business in British Columbia, a massive block of your annual volume likely originates right here. But if you are looking to place an equity deal with Tekamar, you need to look elsewhere. Despite Surrey earning a stellar community desirability score of 9/10 and an economic score of 8/10, it sits squarely inside our excluded lending zone. Our maximum loan-to-value for Surrey is 0%.

Understanding the layout of this market is crucial for any broker. Surrey covers 316.11 square kilometers, but it operates without a single, traditional downtown core. Instead, it is a sprawling network of distinct town centres like Whalley, Guildford, Newton, Fleetwood, Cloverdale, and South Surrey. Whalley and the emerging City Centre are transforming rapidly with concrete high-rises, transit hubs, and university campuses. Meanwhile, neighborhoods like Newton and Guildford are dense suburban hubs dominated by townhouses and low-rise apartments.

The housing inventory reflects this diversity. Single-detached houses make up 32.8% of the market, but multi-family configurations dominate the rest of the landscape. Duplexes account for 22.9% of the local stock, followed by low-rise apartments under five storeys at 20.2%, and row houses at 16.7%. This mix serves a young, working-class demographic with a median age of 38. It is a market fueled by working families, where 68% of the population falls into the working-age bracket of 15 to 64.

The local economy is highly resilient, boasting a 60.1% employment rate. The workforce is anchored by retail trade at 11.8%, healthcare and social assistance at 11.3%, construction at 9.9%, and transportation and warehousing at 9.7%. This is a commuter-heavy demographic; the average commute time is 32.6 minutes, and only 17.7% of residents enjoy a commute under 15 minutes.

With such strong underlying fundamentals, Surrey is an exceptionally liquid real estate market. However, our business model at Tekamar is built on serving areas where capital is scarce. We operate a private MIC funded by private investors, and we focus our lending on the BC Interior, Vancouver Island, and northern communities. We do not compete with the institutional private lenders fighting over high-rises near Surrey Central or duplexes in Newton.

If you have clients looking to pull equity out of a townhome in Guildford, refinance a multi-generational property in Cloverdale, or close a quick deal on an investment condo, you will need to utilize your Vancouver-based private lenders. We will stay out of the Port Mann bridge traffic and keep our capital ready for your files in the towns where alternative lending options are hard to find.