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Thu, April 12, 20077 `% z* X! P: O; J) s' w
* \4 S$ t0 i5 H t+ rCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
1 i$ M% `0 d2 E% c' x5 Q; T: K* KUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST) b* W5 B3 L/ v5 }5 v c
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6 d/ q, I8 j% A. t: J$ dBy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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6 P0 m$ O* k l! I% [; uPeople 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. 6 z U+ A. q' e7 B5 [
% L% c& ?2 C' x1 y- K4 B, M5 h* pThe 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. 9 Q; }7 T4 i+ `8 d+ ?9 P, ?
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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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1 [, X+ m9 J# ~! Q“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 $500.
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. m" b4 ?- e, G3 yStill Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” 0 _. W' h7 w% I/ U9 x0 }6 w+ c1 t
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. ( S- c, e v4 t3 e2 {; } g/ X
4 d; V: f: j' P1 D5 k“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. & F+ `" Q! K$ o( I% |* d0 |6 O! ?$ p
( z7 p& c* z, M, l- KHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. ! X1 Z9 l0 A8 W) `
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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.
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( `1 e( ?( a0 v8 L3 wIn 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. . p E% U s/ I' H3 A- y
/ i2 k1 v" S# _* l1 Z5 p' _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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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. 7 ~) X$ y( U8 b6 \
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* O9 }) ?/ O9 t7 `. S/ Y2 p- 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 $119
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$ b* M% a9 Z- A* p yThe 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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