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Thu, April 12, 2007, V2 l4 y; R4 D4 C7 q5 v6 n9 O: h7 k0 G
" h! M- ]. g$ K" l4 H& o; a+ cCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
/ a7 J; U! `% d8 W# \% P; sUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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" M' g5 Q0 x# y/ D4 QMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. - t! ~1 P& a$ e' {6 R4 ^* G7 k6 l$ V& 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. 0 {9 G/ a' }- R6 Y& E/ F E
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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. - @! m% E& p1 I5 i5 @% S' A
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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 $209 per sq. ft.
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said. ! N5 Z! }+ k9 b2 p$ W, Q
9 ^6 u6 O' w5 J0 \9 P4 f, K1 Y6 \“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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3 m T' I/ H1 ?4 [/ k" XA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. " i8 L* n, P% d6 N( m a0 b
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Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” ' h% w* G7 t/ K/ `2 h, r
( y2 i! y% R) A, @Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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. I* ^1 z$ \3 Z: i* I“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. R! w8 r- i. `5 D4 [9 T
1 L# H0 i- g7 l7 z% T N1 R1 b1 jHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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2 P$ `! i7 R+ g' z4 x" YThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. a! ~8 f \$ v& Z! O( @: x% {
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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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. 0 S* N8 n, q' a
" x; z0 u$ C; ]- r+ L* E) N0 y" i1 tWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. / _4 u f: z, j+ \ c% h. I
# f! T+ p& f! b" r* H6 @A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. # H, `; z& }6 R; H' {
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2 R5 Q9 S! i: \6 O: ]5 Q- 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 $105 respectively. # J- h' w3 C: u+ L: t4 X3 q$ k
+ Z+ w+ i& a8 @1 U4 E) [5 l1 n— 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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8 Z8 J9 W/ [5 J4 d: 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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