 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Thu, April 12, 2007$ u2 F# ]6 v$ B. b1 h
/ N' z( Y" E+ P! m, v* QCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing4 D& N5 z7 w V- {# U
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
. Y8 N3 C6 A' O/ E" B2 c3 ~
* g. `' R8 K) m6 G
) o3 b- |. M r1 m3 W6 c( TBy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
" H. Q, v$ Z9 v
% B* H4 G, @9 A- E* d, `+ Y- P # N$ J) H, k6 ?+ z
More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. ( p0 D8 Q, Y+ G6 k) s0 @* v( q
& b* H/ m+ w7 J$ L' q8 x
People who live in downtown business districts in Canada’s largest cities generally pay less per-square foot than people in cities around the world and enjoy shorter daily commutes to work, according to a recent survey done on first-time home buyers by CENTURY 21.
- _4 ], Z% z) B( X
9 F. K( N. {, B" x# ]& j+ CCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. ( o; s) q3 V" s+ F4 x6 {& i( i
7 b+ G) Z8 J. c! g( g! v7 FThe cost to buy in Calgary’s downtown is even more than settling in Toronto’s core which ranked 16th in the survey with the average cost running $209 per sq. ft. " r2 x, m) Z1 L; l! @9 c
, ^6 r6 k5 S3 g' `/ |! g5 N2 ^5 AGeorge Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said.
, Q5 I, {7 Q8 {+ C0 s; D5 x
+ B4 u& t, \, |/ ^, G: O% n“To live downtown people pay for it.” 9 V& M6 c- k$ k2 V
( F! D' X2 o. p3 u; r3 ]) ]0 JA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
+ \; s9 @4 q$ `$ y q" |0 s4 c' L# U& G* b* D
7 t) ~" Y1 B( Q/ M. ^# SStill Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” , H3 q/ w7 S2 j J
8 W' R5 ^$ X& B) K' [
Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. & H! L3 Y/ G) {! k0 E
- S6 {: u! }7 M; I; u% M+ S“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
" c V9 ^4 U" j+ B2 a) v2 l
$ b. G8 R8 |% d: C7 }2 K. K nHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. 2 V' @& T$ ~. c
* \# d6 v2 ~6 X0 ]7 e" M. `$ VThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
( N) d; u( k9 K" K3 F5 H! i# P4 ]. P6 l: J
In Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. $ b# r" A8 o- ^: f( H
8 S4 c0 i) F. H+ g0 nWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. ! E" ?; {) {: r7 {% n7 o
7 f O% ~4 p- E+ \. f/ qA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
. M4 M' ]4 q9 `- K% o# V1 H) X O/ C. Y0 K+ W, f. v
FAST FAX 7 c' \7 c; s/ D4 g
5 }/ F( \- ~6 q0 B, V
- St. John’s and Quebec City had the lowest and second-lowest per-square-foot downtown prices of all 31 cities surveyed, at $55 and $93 respectively.— The two lowest per-square-foot prices for international cities were Istanbul, Turkey and Sydney, Australia, at $94 and $105 respectively.
$ j/ @4 C9 a) ^3 p9 n# u9 o8 \2 ]
" ^7 c+ h' L" y: U- J& G— Vancouver was fourth most expensive at $577 per square foot while Calgary was sixth most expensive at $500 and Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322 — Globally Paris was the most expensive at $1,051 per square foot while London was fifth most expensive at $532 and New York was eighth most expensive at $375 The 10 least expensive downtown housing markets as ranked per-square-foot for first-time buyers are; St. John’s $55 Quebec City $93 Istanbul $94 Halifax $97 Charlottetown $104 Sydney, Australia $105 Bogota $114 Mexico City $119 * R4 x8 K _5 F* Q6 G9 f
/ A) L' s r' v6 C- O2 ?' }% n
The 10 most expensive downtown housing markets; Paris $1051 Moscow $688 Seol $630 Vancouver $577 London, England $532 Calgary $500 Athens $375 New York City $375 Tokyo, $325 Edmonton $322. |
|