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Thu, April 12, 20070 P1 w& a3 g, \4 m
& D/ m+ |+ @8 `. W. o: D( N- WCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
1 U, W. |1 h. _0 i9 U% wUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST' q+ K2 i5 ]- c+ } H" a1 Y
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8 y3 C, J8 N' q- u" TMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. , H4 e, a5 c, Q+ z( ~" \
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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- I4 i2 w( I0 X* Z9 {- BCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. + o* R! N: W# X W" A1 U3 O
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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 $209 per sq. ft.
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! b' H" j9 E( N$ D/ d' U+ V( ]6 yGeorge 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. * _1 X) c8 M4 l* t6 G8 \
# n$ Y! R/ D5 E“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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* |2 v: d( r: M; F- LA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. ( l/ p p+ I8 ^. B2 G
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7 T+ H+ J* J, @2 _/ u" yStill Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” ; `& `+ A$ J2 f0 j- ^1 c+ g. N2 b
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. % r0 J* L6 p7 K
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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. & v, U7 C9 O z8 a- f
4 c' c$ r* [. J* |) ]# T6 c) e4 t- uHe 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. 9 T# B1 E& I0 E2 w: a) ~
. H1 [5 e* d! |! [; XIn 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.
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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. & z; F5 l7 A2 F4 {0 E) I- [, T
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. , Y& W$ A8 N5 h) B' m* F b* ~3 D
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W/ V' O, W9 v9 K- 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 $ S- r s$ O* m2 ~' o
* Y X( D6 r- T& |& n! S1 }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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