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Thu, April 12, 20074 a" l4 p! {7 l5 X( X
Y! {) T8 S+ }3 Z9 f( ~Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
4 o1 ?: e/ S+ E. FUPDATED: 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. # s4 F* Z! R) A
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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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" x! a& s( p1 U: u. u% F. DCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 7 k0 u1 F& a% e
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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 $209 per sq. ft. ' t% L, [2 U* ]" d! l4 Q* ]6 }
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said.
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+ u }6 S2 y$ x9 E, C2 x3 n“To live downtown people pay for it.” 9 ?9 g8 F) Y' h$ W2 Q8 |' S
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. , i& G4 e8 C# j8 j8 Q2 C _
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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.” : u# b7 G; A% @! Z! x+ ^+ t) p
0 y; o Y+ Y& [; W' D. Z- A* FPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. / B+ P5 c3 }& j/ V4 b# r( [
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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. 3 c% m% Q# D: R/ j1 C3 d8 @. B! O
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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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While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. R6 ]- U3 w; z" `
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?8 J; E) ^9 J) r- 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 $105 respectively. ( \: Y# [. Z4 H# q
+ @4 C) a$ I; {" q4 j— 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 , M% l9 t" j4 W" e
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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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