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Thu, April 12, 2007* m$ w; C7 j( j& d- B
# k$ g% d& h* m) U, FCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
! C- r T$ w7 K, e1 rUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA* `* ~* v, C) I& k; S* Q
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, Q9 l; a1 l2 m9 lMore 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. 4 g' N' }3 k0 r8 e, D) o
}# D1 w! a( t% x+ ]. OCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 4 Y% \# q) [$ W+ t# j! @/ B
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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 $209 per sq. ft.
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said.
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“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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7 D% X$ p" I) g% VA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. * {' K4 Q. J( s$ R- |
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9 D* x, j: A7 T8 N }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.” " j9 R- ?* k) P7 _) u
6 f' N7 A2 N4 u r* z% @Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. & V; T. P9 w4 \/ q3 G# f8 y
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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.
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$ X; v2 T7 l# o* S, _* @He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. 6 W" U5 n6 I0 J2 K
; C) w& i {" r9 r# t$ z+ `8 R0 AThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 4 S, v* F, p9 G
" [5 @- f6 T/ \& |2 o3 MIn 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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While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 7 d0 f2 M/ `1 d0 \# A) u8 E
* ?0 T! N( z- e* I% }/ JA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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2 v* u# j, F( C9 [" L- 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 8 w: j U# U) ^. a# ?
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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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