 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Thu, April 12, 2007& y s$ w4 V6 v0 [3 ^7 Z# u" T
( `' k [' Q4 P$ z4 G) w
Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
) M) u1 t9 l* V! `UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST6 `/ S3 j: \. ~) @2 \
' r! f. [% b- e$ V- Z
, P* v& h! g1 q4 X3 n; K0 e2 QBy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA. i7 |" q' x* b' l
' W6 h V/ L5 ?3 i2 f
' k: k$ {' g8 KMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. - _8 X! o7 v8 \0 R/ h6 m! t
0 I4 V8 [; l2 f( I# C
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.
8 w+ M3 N# k u! t
. d& k8 \ T; p* o h$ j& l3 f$ dCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
4 {, p( Y6 ^9 d+ `+ [
: y( V7 b# y. r! k3 O& gThe 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. 5 N+ h5 A* N. {* n* Q6 M
& o. _* @8 \% DGeorge 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. 7 F) [' r5 a6 f- ~1 O
: D7 G( _ c4 T8 w, h0 Q“To live downtown people pay for it.” $ Z$ o7 U% R1 t- O: V
$ f# l9 J; |0 |+ r# GA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. $ W; S" t D5 z( I* [
2 Z, [+ [1 y, q) C) `1 U
5 z/ n1 ]% V0 q, x5 p6 k
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 B0 A6 _1 x! y9 y
0 Z& x1 J& R' h4 e4 e" g+ P
Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 1 s W* n2 R! h+ P+ E7 }$ ?
+ O. X* }: v+ r* g3 j“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
# y! } m. D6 r' E; W& m- F& ` |1 o: ?; H% p+ z& m- y9 L' _
He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
/ n4 G0 f0 d+ N' ~
& t' Z) w- p) x$ G: L1 H, ~3 DThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
% J. T7 J! F0 X7 M; A0 T; f8 E
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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
; O, ?9 a2 o& s9 b, q$ x. D" [ ~5 v( o0 k
While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
H1 Y) v$ E$ O& b& E% r! R0 M% w' X3 P" w) s, q0 q+ i
A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. ( c1 U9 [9 S7 G
( `, x4 ~6 @! y3 _5 aFAST FAX
, k2 D* @5 B, I# C& h6 O n; r% P7 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. & m# U1 Z8 h2 v4 d0 p' ]0 ^1 j
* D1 T2 s& m- e5 H— 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 N6 W; x. @- B# e" S4 [
7 U) ?. N# c9 a; ]
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. |
|