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Thu, April 12, 2007
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; E x& ?# F) Z p3 |1 v( F) YCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
( P* K4 P8 t, B6 DUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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+ h( o, o- O* N& s, SBy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. 8 r# e7 e! `4 u
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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. : b/ J8 \# n) U! k2 V! A" U
: X4 ?* S- u# u# ^/ b9 u5 NCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 0 l: @; d. u* M6 q
5 }) a& B, B7 |! {. v h+ w8 q; yThe 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 $209 per sq. ft. " u' o6 P$ [+ u$ t4 i( B9 `8 T( _5 r
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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. + y" ?' ~, x- r) R1 P# B0 p1 v
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“To live downtown people pay for it.” % I+ n2 Z) i: f" N
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. - Z2 d! O8 c/ f- C9 I" |
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6 Y0 U" R3 N3 z0 G& r4 [6 cStill Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” # l+ @% G3 g$ v
8 W0 s5 F+ j, p! P/ V1 QPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 1 T7 r/ Q) H4 H% G6 R- A8 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. 1 i% C5 R; R1 J) s7 y. D
' p. E7 z- E m7 u. `He 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 $322.
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7 H; a/ j$ J- v; M6 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.
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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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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. ( k& O8 ?: r& p- ?0 O) n8 C
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7 e' ]: U, l8 _/ u/ i- 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
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+ {5 r5 q: ~( hThe 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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