 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Thu, April 12, 2007! W% o9 i" w6 E1 _4 U+ p- ~/ i
) ]0 Z( @3 p2 X7 J0 H5 tCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing4 R1 c6 }% _- _1 u* F6 B7 ~+ U
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
6 n5 Y* [& @* k' {7 D8 f
3 Y5 s! l2 Y3 T4 M! X6 G G- T+ ]3 G/ N3 M9 h/ l
By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
" z7 y) C [* c2 W. I( D9 }% a& C/ z; ^' c E
9 `$ z& U+ H5 S2 A; z0 V, P9 K4 r% @
More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. ' p6 J- l. c7 t1 s/ ^+ c7 S0 [: f- b
/ L( A7 E- O+ z' ?- N
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. ' Y$ j, @! ?# H4 H' K% F+ j) M# [
( Z* ?. G7 p( u/ Y0 D8 C7 c2 vCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 3 E. G+ F* J3 s f) y2 V
]$ c1 K8 j/ E+ v; tThe 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 $209 per sq. ft. / o( y t% Q. B4 q% _" P
8 n# u7 L- n+ b$ J2 s9 yGeorge 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. % Q3 ?7 k7 i% Z2 q4 V7 a3 F8 `
" g$ y! G- e: {“To live downtown people pay for it.” 3 _* D0 c! Z- D% x9 n$ E5 I
3 h& Z% \. Z6 m" uA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
# S% J) S' \7 T7 a1 c
, B: [7 R q0 D
$ R" L+ E' C% x1 Z3 fStill 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.” $ k9 A6 i% |7 K7 h. D9 |' _
% y4 Q' X! [5 l! _+ ePart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 7 f1 s% p. s7 A8 F- x& h$ D! ]! c
]# R; o0 q, i
“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
( I, U7 i" w; b( q! h; V1 l2 b. G: m0 n5 O4 `
He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
y6 J8 \' S) ?+ \5 E
& Z, o1 n: f; _$ VThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
F2 u% i/ o9 ~2 k! ?$ H; Z, [
/ W. y5 ~, S/ M, kIn 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. . } _- L9 h# w9 |% b7 @. D% o( d
# m q6 l: R; ^* v* a7 MWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
, y4 l! l% Z9 b5 e; u. f/ B w
, f; H/ Q; x+ R+ L8 [A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. + Q$ B# V3 S# i
- x6 P1 k) I. D" h4 n& ?- i0 ^
FAST FAX v* ]/ P9 A0 A: u
% ` Q p5 Q3 r* H, Q- 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.
) c# ]# L) o* m2 A* L: J9 B* u2 `
" v! {! n* z9 S" ? _— 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 $119
. P6 N) H$ a9 I! m9 f( c! s) T) |! _ X+ S+ E
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. |
|