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Thu, April 12, 2007) s- H Z$ Y8 v6 S$ e) m' a2 L
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
2 f6 c' \8 b9 nUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST# ]$ j$ ~) E3 u- i% ], A# a, R
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA6 J; H, I- c$ m0 f8 U2 v, M" a
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- q. z, u; G8 Y% _* ?9 BMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. * X" e% a4 `7 d8 R r; ^
. E4 ~9 w3 z7 s6 _* gPeople 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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: Y4 q6 P9 W9 J4 K* gCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 4 d) X" \$ Q- |. I# z- Z
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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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1 r% j" t" i1 A' zGeorge 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. " b* b0 d, K" V6 l3 p N. v
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“To live downtown people pay for it.” $ }( t8 s% d) @; y
! m; Y4 \) y+ nA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. $ J- a) `% j% a% h. t9 L7 b
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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.”
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 7 @8 V W# R& p$ P
: Y* B9 _; N Q3 E* F“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. 7 U3 X9 ^$ v* o; Z9 ^3 N0 j
) B1 v( I1 o, _- s+ d- c3 QHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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& Z6 k* V+ t, QThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
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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. ) l3 g2 c7 z' \- k+ A
3 ^6 M0 @. T/ t5 [9 EWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. ) U% G! x4 w2 F( ^# y2 F: W
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. ) u- U8 e4 H( E: H2 a
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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. * H# b9 j9 [1 W6 X! g
( S) p3 T `, a, z! u— 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
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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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