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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing. h( g. U, I! j% h* D5 K% _
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST" x+ |2 E( S c9 ]4 C' T( z7 G6 `. o9 s1 V
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA; L# [2 |7 S# h+ q
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9 T- X4 G0 o: a/ u# cMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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% s) V, `! `$ @" \ |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. * G$ `/ B. s8 s6 o' d/ A
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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 1 y5 A% S. o* p
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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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“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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4 [4 O: U! Q8 ~7 g2 D' K4 WStill 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.” 2 H: L1 F0 O3 C, B9 d
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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7 s2 o' {8 z3 y“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. 5 q* D f# G) r
- {1 \$ [2 D1 T5 Y, wHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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3 T' o3 D5 q5 N) d" A6 xThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
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8 ]! l7 {- t1 j$ X2 [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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
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While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
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$ Y8 h9 g r9 g( t1 GA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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5 W5 H6 c% l' E6 oFAST FAX 4 ?+ b0 ?* T0 o: k0 h- Y7 _
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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.
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— 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 $119 6 N9 _5 ~$ Q. H1 N( _( A" l
- C) k7 x2 A, T6 c5 Q& H& f% vThe 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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