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Thu, April 12, 2007
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2 } d$ u0 {8 X, g/ V4 JCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
) [9 A3 A- P9 `8 \UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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: P+ p8 i3 l( `! X6 uMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. + D* V/ v Q- t: J+ X
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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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: ]& ~" r7 U+ X1 ECalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. ) s6 N6 }" p! @; F7 ~
' \8 ~6 j' V! n4 T" D: L0 l( n" UThe 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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5 ~+ {( g" P! M) o2 @8 ?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. 9 H* p5 F! \8 p/ x' Q
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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 $500. ) ^ _$ e5 z: K) i7 ]
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+ h; C& d( o/ uStill 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.” 0 m9 s+ E7 p9 b- g8 a% @
( } `1 e. H( h% JPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. + {" v9 S1 G b5 b
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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. : b1 k1 z# _+ v6 H2 T+ w
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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. , i. l+ B! ^5 N* R4 O
5 F+ m8 q6 h' h3 tIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
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! F, d5 F0 [. g s" z$ \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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, ~1 ~0 l4 S, g+ pA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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' _1 s: ~8 t @2 b6 I3 G: P- 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. , q+ _- s2 T& P6 C, y
* d( J2 ?8 j6 y6 _! T) j; _— 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 0 B! j' N0 h9 \0 F
& ?2 T" y3 a9 D) Y- q0 uThe 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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