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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
: X; O* a% c0 p5 I& G: _: zUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST5 r" u1 k% K# z1 P# q
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA! p0 j2 Q+ `+ d7 T# u
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. ; R1 E/ Y( D( `
. t. x4 e7 G3 x, b! YPeople 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. : p' `6 p0 J$ L, \" D
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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 3 w+ G- o) M3 [1 F8 Y5 q. |! C: _
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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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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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; _, P% }1 x& ^7 \, T“To live downtown people pay for it.” $ x7 R8 i A- u+ ]4 B
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” 1 y/ r4 w' [ \4 A
# X2 }0 c+ {) N7 D4 r6 P$ M' KPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 7 ]/ v( }3 G) p U
8 [0 L+ I2 H" F/ a/ N( t“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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- M( @6 K: c: Y+ l# E) Y* s$ KHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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; t1 b" T! ]9 {7 L+ b+ ^+ e9 _The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322.
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4 P5 Q9 |) T+ TIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. : f$ q; A* @8 N" E) t; {, h
_8 u1 ]* e! A5 ?8 v# x" X# G8 R$ mWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
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5 g% |2 ?; D5 P6 fA 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.
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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 0 g, i/ X8 C! v
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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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