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Thu, April 12, 20077 `9 }& k; @$ x( Y$ V% S: p
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
: |/ [. a; {/ {; s+ kUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST+ k$ a" L6 Z6 X: W" v3 s
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) V) `, P% S6 L9 \) h7 ^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. & [" t2 K3 v: F% V9 i
* k. G3 j% g! c- E. V( ?3 mCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
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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 $209 per sq. ft.
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said. ! M$ C4 w7 z, H
2 Q$ |7 V5 {3 S“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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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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Still 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.”
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 2 G. u/ w: O! }! F: \
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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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- n1 c( X8 y+ Q0 T, |& r! `; B+ xHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. ) z3 \& b* I L2 W
8 |( u7 M& W7 [3 r, dThe 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.
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: l0 ?9 _' o' e/ U# y \3 sWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 8 z4 Y. t- \$ _9 P' k9 o
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. 2 A% f5 k- v; b H/ M+ z" z" L
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3 U. S1 ]1 ]& e8 M- 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. ! e# H, M' I3 p; w/ w7 N+ k0 m
3 b" [# O2 v2 T— 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 % ]' c( R, ]& ^) u, {: w# 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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