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Thu, April 12, 20076 j. b8 I& O7 U, [" Z2 F( N* O, l8 L
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing D( d" K' w; Y# \ V4 ?; _3 {
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST2 k1 Z- m _ _% Y1 H& Y
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. ; a; T+ U. U7 P
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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. - N+ G2 I& `7 U6 H/ r Q
6 L' k: }# w" P- LCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 3 g+ w. F" R8 Q: k
- Z9 s T% ]2 AThe 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. 1 t/ V# m3 X% {% V8 u/ ?* t! m
3 S# J! ?4 d: N2 u/ s7 J- j/ BGeorge 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.
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% @8 M4 f. m& ~4 ~“To live downtown people pay for it.” * r1 a! n6 @: _* \
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. 1 y2 f5 X4 ^% a5 P3 @
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5 |; i/ B( l' |7 Y) w! J5 f3 pStill 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.” * S" ?: }8 ]9 g0 C
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. - B/ B* ` F- R
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“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. # X2 W3 Y- |" b# F( d8 U
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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4 R" O9 \' V3 e6 b2 ?- f% m' BThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. ' b0 w3 Z5 D6 M6 B# o+ J
2 w4 Z4 b; c4 g& z& E) ^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. " O5 S* g) o; b
( |: ^- X9 ]! ]( ~' _: TWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
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8 r; ~: L l( a/ E% J1 |1 d& r6 QA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. ; d* p2 Z9 D; M9 f! Y0 Q
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- 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. 1 ~9 z0 n7 i9 A3 k5 {& T G
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— 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 $119 # j; V7 A7 C& m2 V$ D+ ?) k
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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. |
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