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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing/ f. K3 Y, V8 R8 V9 c0 f+ T
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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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.
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* A: u, o/ e& I# SCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 5 t$ O% X6 V* x
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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 $209 per sq. ft.
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said.
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0 I& V" v$ C. |. t' O“To live downtown people pay for it.” e$ C0 k a2 ?0 [7 Q
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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$ b; A' t! |+ G( g/ @% TStill 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.” ; f3 _/ M: R6 K7 f/ u2 L
: N, `5 F* s& a8 APart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. ; _9 c8 p! T }# 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.
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. % |3 z" \% A, Z1 z G/ t D7 n8 }4 L
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The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 9 J# O: @* w( z2 S
8 L+ O6 P" y2 w' e& D9 LIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. 7 O* h m0 l* d, s$ P
2 c, c& _3 Y k. E2 xWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 8 O) b; O; U, S; z3 m& N
# q ]5 m; P) R7 j- ]4 b! P3 {: QA 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. * S% y; o3 V4 S j9 O2 m
3 Y8 Z7 M5 C1 _- H% W; Y! D2 e— 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 ) L Q0 f- k0 e! @
% L9 f1 v" w6 PThe 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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