 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Thu, April 12, 2007- C8 g& h3 h* B5 N0 |
; U7 n$ g _# F
Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing9 F( d1 v" b' [0 \0 \
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
& h8 j1 w& I9 Q3 d3 M" f+ D ^: `+ r7 ^, A1 ^
# Z; B! v- s0 E. ?4 l$ `
By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA0 H/ ?2 F/ l n9 ^0 c
* f4 b1 n" A; {/ h. j: w
! s( _4 n' B) ]) Z6 d
More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
# _) E) D$ c- K7 A8 a
, ? T) O& x3 e) I; @6 T* xPeople 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. - W2 z& o4 I. p9 z1 {: q% ]1 [" M
. y8 O# @. w: ~! }5 x. @5 S6 D ]+ z
Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 2 a+ b( Y1 m/ T8 |* @
6 L: N) `& s9 A9 ~: t5 z+ Z( j
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 $209 per sq. ft.
3 d8 p8 \$ \: ^$ D' W9 l
" r3 Z3 g6 s* k& [3 }7 U2 L# mGeorge 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.
7 R7 `' u& @; [6 h
& g2 u9 g5 Q3 j& W8 g9 L“To live downtown people pay for it.” 9 W0 ?- B5 ~% |( [0 B: H$ k
3 z& S5 ^9 C. IA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. , Q3 _4 [$ ~3 A" C9 g. [
8 \3 H9 [+ G! h8 h
8 A' E# m6 W' T1 X8 x3 L
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.”
- J4 C5 s- G, g. i9 x' n" P
% S3 Y* r' X1 |+ ~! R* SPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. ) Z- B3 t6 R0 h2 J! J0 @$ A7 e6 t
$ D- D2 M7 b2 w9 O“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
8 _% Q4 u( z; a, X% N
8 m% R- N8 D+ D( p( {) o d" q. KHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
. d' M8 [0 @3 b9 |- K3 a" i0 l5 O' d- C) ?' O( r
The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 1 q$ i. w5 ]# u, h+ l% [5 D! q
! H# F% a" O* Y$ @% d
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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. ! @7 k! ^, w7 K% z; F7 N0 Q# H
4 A& R" _3 s/ o; m+ H
While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
5 W9 m" A+ x# Q! r, S2 H/ s4 m4 Q5 z! r: }, c$ I
A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. " S: @' f4 e- e. `
$ i" I7 ?8 x4 R6 o/ t4 \. i2 h5 JFAST FAX
4 p* Z4 \6 r$ c, O" n- Y4 R3 h: D6 T g! Z( K
- 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. ) b. G5 @1 {" r, @' F8 `% _
4 D6 X( n) u( n6 I, 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
5 M. o( @9 j& c& ~/ }4 y G3 u- U4 i5 ~: ^7 j, {: I9 s1 N9 E7 L
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. |
|