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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
7 ^' y) Z# v4 J. eUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST# x$ n& R; K! `+ p* B
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. - c4 j1 I" D7 m) X$ F
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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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' B4 g* m4 q( Y( o! v( f7 NCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
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& A+ H% f7 ^" N3 qThe 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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6 D X9 v& z3 K \ P7 h# m' fGeorge 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. $ _ ^2 f( }3 N9 |
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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 $500.
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7 }7 \9 k- r$ v: U+ |6 kStill 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.” / ~" ?. T! f6 [% Y
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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. 5 A( z, G' u- E, I f+ }
$ O. K( l7 |0 xHe 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. ' a: B9 Z% L7 k( d; w4 ~& z# Q
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In 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.
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4 I" u4 y; }3 B8 LA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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8 i( i' U0 e8 r+ l% N# U- 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& R0 w* J, f
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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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