 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Thu, April 12, 2007
\2 f. T/ |0 i3 m6 E t' Z8 x; u+ e0 c1 s- M
Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
. k+ D5 h7 ^8 E1 m& N) D mUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST' ^% Y$ P0 h# G. _0 S: s
; t$ |3 h; ?+ S2 [8 Z. Z
' `: V4 P4 ]9 S
By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA/ |3 T0 l$ _( h3 V+ l6 c
4 F6 }' Y% u b. [' O% g
' i G% z- i1 B) e h; d3 ZMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. ( E4 c/ p+ W b
6 S7 @2 k3 z+ F1 R: h: B' t
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. 6 e0 l- N7 ?; G( N6 I0 `
0 E4 h- I. K, ^; N4 Z" K! W+ F' M
Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
( q7 p' ^& s5 `/ W/ g0 H j k& g% p/ M9 o; n' R
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.
* i# Q6 E' P ]' K3 J( P. ?9 A/ ~' [) S# x& W& u4 b1 w
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. - Z0 ^( E2 Y9 n9 ?' i( j
% k& x( [* @ Q“To live downtown people pay for it.” # _7 O0 v8 `/ _; w: k
u% O6 |6 x6 H/ c& u# H, tA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. 7 A3 H% I+ B# h: C1 B7 E
5 H: e# \. c" v9 g
! G7 X7 w6 {- I. ^& v- e' C* [# ]
Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.”
7 {: ~# M3 I- F6 O# u+ j* [/ a* S/ R
Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
5 y! x7 Z9 i9 R7 {0 x+ \! T% `. ~3 U6 [) @* h
“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
# N! W. p6 {* r
6 f7 f2 i9 C! r1 L9 vHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
# W# h, X+ d0 ^7 H1 L2 Z
. F, d+ \5 F$ ~ l& FThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
7 m0 `8 X, u/ r% z4 y% a' E' E& ~: L( ]( e: u
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.
& W- z! ^( i6 h1 a t& ?# o# S, r; i# H V6 s
While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
& T" `4 m5 w: F1 A' ^& h3 Z) w! D, E8 N- j
A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. 0 i* @' [4 Q) u) x0 Q! L4 A8 p% s
8 n6 B$ e( Q1 HFAST FAX ; r7 Z2 i" t v! H5 R
3 K0 S7 n; U5 k, ^4 U
- 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 $105 respectively. 4 J% ^2 X+ O3 s7 |
1 `# v$ r- N. v/ ^0 F
— 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 M8 v/ t. `6 _8 x# W2 J# x% ?
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. |
|