The escalating arms race between developers looking to entice prospective buyers for their Metro Vancouver condominium and townhouse projects reached new heights this week.
“For every home you purchase we’re going to include a free Tesla,” said Celia Chiu, sales manager for Viridian Homes.
Developer Century Group is offering a Model 3 Tesla base model with each of the remaining 10 homes in its Viridian development overlooking the Nicomekl River.
Chiu said the remaining homes have been on the market for the last year, but the entire community has “been around for two years and with a market having kind of a subtle stall, we wanted to take it to the next level.”
The townhouse project contains 57 total units, each one featuring more than 2,000 square feet of living space and a pricetag starting at just over $1 million.
The Teslas being offered are valued at $55,000. The promotion will be available starting Saturday, and it will continue until Oct. 31 or until the final 10 units in the development are sold.
“An incentive like this does have to have a wow factor,” Chiu added.
Each of the remaining units comes equipped with an electric vehicle charging station, something Century Group president Sean Hodgins said in a release reflects the project's "innovative design with energy-efficient capabilities."
Century Group is far from the first developer to offer an incentive to prospective buyers as Vancouver's once white-hot real estate market has cooled in recent months.
Earlier this year, Woodbridge Homes announced a plan to attract millennial home-buyers to its Kira development in West Coquitlam by offering them free avocado toast for a year.
One month later, Wesgroup Properties offered buyers a glass of wine per day for a year if they purchased a home at MODE in South Vancouver during the month of June.
Real estate agent Gurdial Badh told CTV News Vancouver he admires the move. “Either he does that or does a price reduction to come in line with what the market is today.”
The market has been soft the last few months, leading prices to go down, but sales are up.
“We’re seeing a lot more activity on the lower range and once the low range starts moving then obviously it will have an impact on the higher price range properties,” said Badh.
As for what the future holds? Badh said a lot has to do with who forms the next federal government after election day on Oct. 21.
“The main thing I think the government needs to do is help these first-time buyers,” he said, with the hope the market will once again pick up speed.
