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Thu, April 12, 2007
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; K+ C- l3 |7 X- ]& f0 {, _$ cCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing7 s- K+ Q$ s+ ]+ h4 X+ b# Q- u* ]
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST% g- z8 q) r; w/ o. r3 A
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$ j: F8 s" o& ]* B1 F6 IMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. 1 Z; z7 E& C' P% g
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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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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 4 `! ~) S d+ c7 m) z- j0 \7 b
7 [5 e+ Q# K% g, OThe 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 $209 per sq. ft. # z8 ?" G' q( ]! { O7 |. R4 B( d q
. R. i T/ O" q; s( ]/ o: ?George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said. % o) i d; q8 x7 ~2 C; l5 C
; C- p7 a) }$ Z+ X2 Z“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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# Q# H" W+ V5 |- V' nA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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7 j0 D9 I; @4 S, kStill 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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: k! ]# Q) t, n4 |8 q# RPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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3 P1 g( L2 m+ ]- G# v6 y! ~“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. ) |! `2 Y% ?- ?% }
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. # F- j* d1 n& J1 m" J
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The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 8 J8 @# v5 l. i- L3 E: r
7 V- ^; v- h Y$ }8 O4 |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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. , k: d5 y" M1 x9 c
0 E* C$ q1 a ~% u: |. {- b2 wWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. ) X( J& |/ k2 A, |
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. . S: J$ Z4 C, \( S: f0 d
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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 $105 respectively. # K- g: {* d4 X$ `0 P6 M
- Q _$ C% t$ b; z: [/ F: C— 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
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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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