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Thu, April 12, 2007( t. A0 @- Y' P; r
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing9 t4 G4 v5 O8 z4 c( S/ P6 t$ S
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. $ T2 m0 b; `- m& z; N$ V [
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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.
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' F% \, m' M1 n- l c* d7 WCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 0 [0 S) G$ ^) K: d" b7 e3 p
0 f8 R8 {) F% {( J% H1 k" 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 $209 per sq. ft.
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said. ; P1 r! q* G( `7 t0 y6 T, k
" f- G. ]$ u+ s" \& l“To live downtown people pay for it.” " t5 _6 N+ r+ k( z2 K6 d
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” . I* i6 k: e; _. u$ Z- ^1 }
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. , R' z- p G/ ]# n. b4 W
4 O0 l, d" E2 g0 F“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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( w8 C! w( |: P2 DHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. ! j! J9 a3 O5 M1 M J
R& x+ ~& }- ]: o% U$ NIn 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. 4 F, x( {2 f+ q! c" u
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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. + i' z, g _, b0 Z
9 {" z1 p" }' ?* S4 v0 [5 q3 oA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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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. $ T: M9 A: c" b( M4 A3 _! L
! m$ D+ Z( _& T: a+ t' Q% P— 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 ; _. d& ]% K) B, L1 B& U6 W1 Q/ R
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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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