 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Thu, April 12, 2007
( f0 A |. d1 s+ h( d) W* H- r: _# K! J4 N" i: h5 y8 O
Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing% t1 R2 B0 ^. \
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST t' q- q: {2 S5 T
4 v& z: C5 {9 [& S% [7 B8 O
, m" M, w. C0 ]% K o% YBy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
/ R! J4 q5 A* g
' [; D$ v8 @5 p( D( ]
; Q! G) ^, r/ r- P3 j _More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. # Q2 n C- j }/ F& I/ w
. W1 C0 W9 g; m( l
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. ' b; [' {: g" V4 _% j7 E
' x' \3 t5 P/ M; ?
Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
6 X2 `5 f7 y* t6 u* b2 k
$ E3 v9 [& n9 \0 E( lThe 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 $209 per sq. ft.
% U3 u! q: H; f% f, B; B( z2 W6 |, |$ G% g
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. , n* M5 @# R7 D
, r. d2 ?8 H0 ]! E1 [6 N
“To live downtown people pay for it.” ; H6 c( i7 {3 Z
0 s+ l4 Q3 k/ r( ]5 RA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
4 d6 [- e1 M z# Y" a @" f X' {3 v# j7 [6 L" A' p
7 [( D4 U: ?4 C: c/ d9 @Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.”
9 `5 g$ x& q$ |7 Z# P6 a# e% s) W% m/ G' N
Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 6 m4 q5 e. F/ H3 [: r
+ _7 H2 q0 w9 P, t' ?' g! F3 g
“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
! A! f6 F* N, m) _: z8 O3 l! y. f7 n5 d; E$ }
He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. & G) ^: A1 y0 q) `7 X6 L9 {7 y
; f) F: `' j% C4 _ YThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. ! E8 g9 P) b! x. C/ X* O" S& ^
, m j; I6 D$ R# G0 z8 w2 s/ XIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. ) c6 ^6 J! P" e! U" M5 d
7 P+ c$ T* y+ F: |, IWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
+ H- O8 q9 ^8 `6 f4 h( L& S
0 M* O" E% i4 j2 n' SA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
' H4 `* j" b" J3 X. v5 V- U+ y8 _) j; M; a. S
FAST FAX
1 K. Y5 D- y( ?, {, |
2 E+ c/ p2 ^. \' X% d9 G% ^- 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. 0 a( f5 U& f3 t- _0 A# O
7 F- S# A! C, i7 g/ x
— 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 9 S4 H4 F3 V O4 D
, t9 b- Q2 X. A% f
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. |
|