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Thu, April 12, 2007
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" P5 R8 z' g0 Q' \. v. GCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing4 f+ m. p% Q. \4 Z" ]
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST: r$ }) G! }7 P2 v- o' }
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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% m4 a0 ?0 w# K" P: C; e# R# S6 E: L/ VMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. 0 b. Z* o1 u- M' M7 n i
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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. % R0 U; K) {5 ^! j
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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. ! ~4 m+ p; |1 Q% h1 x2 R
4 M6 G5 { F( r& W0 `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. X# F8 i4 g: h* e* |
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“To live downtown people pay for it.” 3 z, v/ U; O2 t( k& Z
( D0 P+ Y2 {' y6 p* @7 I. nA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. 5 X) u$ X: ?$ M% v' V! i: Q% T
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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.” + @* `$ R, W7 C6 ~
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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. 1 c9 p0 C4 q$ ]! W( M: @: R
5 [* ?; k1 \( q# `He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. " b2 H* u3 N8 `1 a6 j, R: v' K
- ^) g: N1 t2 j$ E" NThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 8 ^& l( ] J8 [4 H
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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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
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) v$ @0 n$ p* w! x2 |/ hWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
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* ?' }. H8 W! [7 t7 z6 v9 UA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. % z) U& k( L5 N# s% y
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4 L5 b/ n9 ~2 q7 G( E8 {- 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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/ F- T& t6 p5 { j: W# `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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