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Thu, April 12, 2007& a c. z( ?7 @8 O8 G _
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA. H* D" k# ]0 a9 J) P- i" h
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) w3 D/ n3 ?. Z/ E0 JMore 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.
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, y3 [) [9 [* b, V; @( jThe 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.
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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. " l, a# s; S5 [/ [/ M+ K" D& b1 n M
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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.” 6 x* k9 G0 a3 ~" x" i- h' j7 T
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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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( r* h1 L& Z/ P2 _/ b q r" W( f“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. & T3 ^+ N; |6 |- B, K
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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.
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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. & l5 A. j/ d8 e1 z( y
7 I. V8 m! w4 w( cWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 4 S% @9 Q" X* W1 }
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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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# r8 r) O6 @) P, g6 W- 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 $105 respectively. ! P& c$ o6 c5 V( R) d- F: i
C4 ]3 G) g' u0 R" f— 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 ! e) Z4 b; d: ]
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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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