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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
2 z S0 }4 X: s5 a3 cUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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~+ Y3 U8 q1 y. h4 Z2 MMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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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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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. / |( M0 C5 B( z, d0 k/ R; _
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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. + F- e- z6 J' Y5 s7 q* l; I5 O
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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 $500. 9 y n3 X9 r% I+ }
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Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” ; T, F) _: q8 H( ^# a3 A6 ~
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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1 l# W' y/ X. z) X“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. D. U; B4 h8 n& |: r6 c& g
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. * c$ l; e. C8 [* Y. J% i
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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 I7 e. c- Q4 RIn 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. 9 \5 U5 l, p5 m4 Y
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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.
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- 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 $105 respectively. & \ d/ @) p9 R4 {7 @$ l" [
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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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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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