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Thu, April 12, 20071 D4 z2 M4 A) m4 E' g4 [/ D8 d
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
- J. \/ d- a A2 U Z1 D! E5 RUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST. |# E4 V1 g( g& i
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; X- |! C. D" Y/ CMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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& `! ~* u2 t% }* D8 v* U; [* A5 F$ ZPeople 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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$ u/ @' P) Z) S2 y0 {) ~ TCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. . h n$ p$ F! g0 T% Y% `2 K
9 F) D* F8 {; cThe 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. 2 G+ ^( k) E: B# C3 b
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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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' W% Y# _( f4 a- i7 _“To live downtown people pay for it.” $ y9 c( E. ]% K; k2 d* e
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. , Y I0 T( o' |9 e7 P# d- c& b
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+ z `8 k4 K9 z& k4 z$ Z6 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.”
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5 t8 c/ X+ B* U, K$ [4 b4 CPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. $ R2 o% D9 p) [3 R7 {7 q6 M( U/ i
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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 _1 X( L2 a+ g8 G$ N
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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" u" h+ W6 a5 u2 _/ Y+ z
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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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8 s5 }* W m3 m( ?While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. r7 B y- c7 A K
3 V! W+ b( T! y8 e" s8 G; ^" IA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. 1 {8 ~/ d4 F( I8 N$ R
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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.
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3 |+ F: C- Z& |' X2 s0 Q— 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 $ E0 L" W% T: _3 e- ?( `; N
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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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