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Thu, April 12, 2007# M( l& B4 J8 Q6 n! T
9 M' |6 `* Q0 A7 b: ^) y' Q1 S+ BCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing9 \+ ^1 w4 a$ L5 |
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST) s) Y" B3 d/ p* }# |0 |' N
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. " Q4 i4 O% s0 b& ]6 B
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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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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
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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. ( h; k; X; _6 s' K
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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.
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' J8 R) n! N6 e“To live downtown people pay for it.” : u: V* N) d0 c B* |
3 D X' } [5 jA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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& N4 i2 e, L. q! K1 YStill Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” & c% {5 o" f, g$ h i! [
6 O& O$ }( ]( C* d) U/ h4 g+ aPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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+ I' m/ ?- W0 D3 j* C5 U“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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He 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. + Z: X# ?; m6 q4 T8 ]" ?0 Q
: b# _% Q9 k( ?4 d- JIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. - E7 C- A! P+ K+ V. U
6 i1 {$ ~; p4 d! S: }9 gWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. , T3 K. u2 |0 a/ k0 j6 Y' y
( e$ K& M4 e Y& u3 }( H: H+ D( |A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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: F2 B( G5 ], |5 W- 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 & L1 o+ d4 p6 k
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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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