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Thu, April 12, 2007
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7 V5 v0 ]& T6 K0 p, U: x7 V. h! uCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
. }. |, [0 x6 eUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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/ u: J# h+ \. G/ rMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. $ M, u Z q: G2 U1 M; \
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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. : E2 w6 n$ k) n* W8 c. B
: {8 M9 \ `! K9 B0 ^Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
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. i4 D( y/ R( A% Z" KThe 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. 7 E* S- r2 z/ Y1 | ^1 I
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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. ) z: i- E- ]7 C8 |) _! f
+ z" H& P( ]- ?9 s5 w8 F“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 $500.
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Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” 0 L) p- W( F9 I/ u. x
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. 8 i4 h2 u! K# m- h0 X3 d g
) ]1 w; c; ^0 v: @" SHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. , I, l4 H( Z" ~* _: }* j
% M8 \- l- M" K2 P$ JThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 6 O" V$ P' K1 u3 m/ o _8 @4 a
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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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; }3 C& q0 \$ [; L, zWhile 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 $323 per square foot, for instance. - ^& C9 @; O0 v0 U0 F6 c J$ \
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2 n) v" x8 n. R; H- 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. 9 {2 ^% k+ R3 g5 F9 t U
2 }" ~4 ?0 w( v( k; S8 _— 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 $119 9 A; T! N, g H$ [4 z# f' Y
, B3 c. I& {8 T% W _2 s6 } nThe 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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