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Thu, April 12, 2007/ j1 Y; `# G* P) B3 S
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
3 Z, C" ?# X; m) Y$ HUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST- d$ Z4 j; B: M5 j! O
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA- }, Y6 n, G* [* `" |8 }
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. L* t& Z' L5 S# v: \/ T9 W& iMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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# r: i2 ?0 G7 L: a( Z, U( rPeople 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. # Q5 x* [# w+ P3 a
2 J' j* X6 E9 D9 nCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. " |; @; F. ]) I2 `- Z% G; f* m% H- |
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The 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 $209 per sq. ft. 0 L! I3 }& w' O+ d2 C0 A
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said.
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“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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# {+ e" n: F( H$ O% v+ KA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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" l3 w8 y ]. H! ~, DStill Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” # I4 W4 E$ k+ b$ r% L8 B9 ?* v
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. $ U9 y, c0 T! U) m" F, G
F# |/ P/ F/ N7 d# l J( L3 d“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. + u& G6 S# Y0 Y" Y5 f# W; G9 Y
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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6 w' N( x3 G- w7 m& R8 ]The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
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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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. . Y d: Z$ a& N- X
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While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 8 [5 U Q& U% d8 b. Q" h
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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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. & B0 p) s7 {- x) A" w1 B" l
9 U8 U" P0 W5 m* t _# H— 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 $119 " z$ h( h1 F3 K4 k; u3 Q
1 v# W$ M7 W8 CThe 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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