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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing1 N `" {+ S3 k6 ~! a- G' {) m% K
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST0 K& _5 Q8 K) M D" V3 P8 A
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0 K* O& O- f3 s5 Z) M6 y fMore 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. + u: V5 X- h' q4 D( f9 }
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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. ' _2 o, N4 B9 g# c
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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. / b7 P+ `; A w; [. d& q" H; c& y+ v+ r
# t, e% D# l: x) ?8 w, bGeorge 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.” ) P: R+ X( ?6 @- w5 m+ c1 i
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. & V" a/ o7 t, ]$ P" M4 H
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% \# C3 E' ~+ K* 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.”
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+ Y7 R' x9 {2 X& P3 K+ QPart 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.
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. + C1 q0 [+ Q8 R
F- j" I% C( |4 n( nThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
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3 u5 `/ ]5 {( |8 c; u1 @: t/ AIn 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. , h1 J- T4 B9 P Z
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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. ) y6 G+ H' t5 f
) F( Y' L, _& ~3 ^A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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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. % [- v8 [3 N8 G
/ f* [( x7 ^" g4 v( \3 @; L— 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 # l6 ]; _; L5 K6 f/ L
# c8 [6 e: [* K) ~; E: PThe 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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