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Thu, April 12, 2007
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8 ~7 D1 |' I# z; \Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
8 t/ `/ _# p4 r8 ~, N5 n* D$ MUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST. g( ^/ h2 P3 e I) ^
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" j& o! l- g" {, k( kMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. " L K r# _9 T r: X
3 P2 @1 i$ ^7 @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. 7 x0 u1 H/ u( \7 t6 d
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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 $209 per sq. ft. 0 A$ w( `; w+ g* \2 \
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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 $500. 4 {+ R& Z$ d- H( }
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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.” 4 t, Z" R5 k8 r" x
6 @) X1 g( B6 W9 u! C* RPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. , S+ v/ D. u7 F) ]% }
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“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. 1 l) t' M. x% [
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. " u6 ?9 _7 {# t0 V7 h1 n2 L: k7 e
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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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; A% K% V3 f' k1 UIn 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. ; }. {3 D- ]. f8 D; @' Q
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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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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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6 {: f; d/ W% ]2 ]) d- 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. 3 U+ r6 {* ~2 M* y: g6 a
1 R; n: p: ~* \# M" M# } t/ p— 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 $119
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$ o+ K1 P3 K$ K6 r; K9 T1 \7 U* |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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