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Thu, April 12, 2007
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1 a5 i1 T" O6 b4 [0 l) A* q% c6 t% `Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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, D0 E5 d/ M8 g7 p1 ^More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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, i9 l; m6 Z2 v5 H- R' aPeople 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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+ d D( i9 f" u$ c$ vCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. ( {; P/ @( |9 [. n+ @
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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. 3 d; H: N# P8 H3 ]; J' l5 @
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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.” + @- O) y. ?' `6 y; Z: v
2 x7 G& N) ?0 VA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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, q$ ]' d9 Y5 |! t2 k' H# a/ m" z7 \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.”
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- {8 R' R% ~8 W9 c7 @Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. ( y; _, l7 U t( Z
D7 @ Y2 V, m9 J& l( r“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. 6 W# \ X8 h% i. B4 l
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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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8 L7 D* n; f, V& d3 t6 qIn 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. $ q# A8 ~1 }* r! t" i
) f( z. w) @: k b" g! J. l) r% {6 O7 rWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. . p: j0 f& j3 L3 k. ?
) B- [; _3 P p2 z; o" I9 y8 XA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. ' s& p# N3 n" r1 q, z4 `
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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 $105 respectively. , R' Q" M, L$ Y5 z7 U
1 @, y5 x$ j; g$ M: z; d+ R' y— 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 B# o2 e# L1 n
0 x' J0 A2 Q( h7 U: 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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