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Thu, April 12, 2007) a' h% o+ F- g. w0 \& b3 m1 Y
0 j9 E# g v- ^Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
% m: p+ {- t+ I, rUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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5 f. N' [/ F: V! X% v6 GMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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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. $ N% i2 v* D$ J. {2 I9 G9 p) F% B, y& U
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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( H1 Y/ g7 f# n& i- T- r
9 N8 _' d0 ~& lGeorge 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. 6 [8 x9 d7 V. _- [
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“To live downtown people pay for it.” 5 v- g9 w1 e, e; j7 a8 C9 L
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A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.”
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. 8 ]+ u' f' @) X p# F* ?+ @
" k& R( A( D, [8 P$ W# H“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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8 L1 C. B( H0 W+ cThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. % N7 J: D/ {8 r8 }/ c+ v6 v
) p0 d0 Q( r6 Q \, V, ^. \+ }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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
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0 s8 }* X2 X' o/ N: H( z* r& _While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 5 N. g" \; L/ r$ M3 T, V- g
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. 9 M7 v: G. {" y. [4 a1 f7 O
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9 y" g$ i" H6 y0 ~6 k. E- 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
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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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