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Thu, April 12, 2007
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: ^5 b3 y5 ~. `) v8 WCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing5 C' [0 D' G+ p/ t
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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More 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 Q" l; x+ V! Q+ l7 r8 a3 \
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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 1 ]: L0 j$ V/ l. ?0 p0 F
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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 $209 per sq. ft. ! D: V2 z _: t+ c7 O8 ]2 y
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said. * D, S) l# E$ T' D) n
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“To live downtown people pay for it.” 4 |8 v9 I* B9 h( `5 N- A& ]
/ {& u$ g( O: B2 YA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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; v9 E4 v. W0 @$ y7 k- g3 {. oStill 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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" B! `7 b+ M# }/ V: d, MPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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: H9 m W, a1 V“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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1 m$ a) f- j% C" X- A+ {. sHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. ( E& q6 E, q, X& p
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The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 1 n. U( H7 N. l8 ^$ \6 p' u
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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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
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- Q$ T4 d6 f, H; h! P4 OWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 2 Q a d! p6 t
2 V( K0 w) _) ^- i7 d2 MA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. & q' F/ J2 m7 j" I6 N+ m. k
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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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— 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 : v+ q" ~% V, ~! R) v s
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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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