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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing: R1 [5 I) |" o- x) k- l; Q& Y, M3 t
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST$ O1 R$ o2 s; I- M: u5 P
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA8 U0 ^2 T8 r$ q* C) Q
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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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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" `& H* \) b$ @* M8 PCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. % C# X* X$ l6 |5 S
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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 $209 per sq. ft. ! E( _, ?; d3 f V% B0 H: N
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said. 3 Z% S3 O% o {$ t& X& f
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“To live downtown people pay for it.” % b. {5 q. d/ W, y0 }. J$ X
y I) u4 u8 n) r+ [' J+ rA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. + ]$ m3 e$ s% s6 f5 O
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' t E( H7 J% y$ ]6 A, wStill 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.” 5 }# l1 W, K! Z: X5 z* b4 n" Y
0 o1 P5 J/ g2 ]' Z! ~# |6 {Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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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. ) D' p( z& y4 N* o
. W- v* P7 ~7 n8 h( SHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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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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0 @+ K) d' ~8 F* w4 lIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. 7 H5 i: B- Z) k' R, [+ o% e, p
- @5 @# `( |( [( ?$ s- kWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 3 E# K; v& y& I5 z# u2 s6 V
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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$ l/ F" ^5 E1 s( A+ V- 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 $119 ( Y) f" M$ k- I; g j7 i8 l
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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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