 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Thu, April 12, 2007: f+ E: b4 O8 K$ n' a# G n* [
2 X0 C. n3 Q+ @$ B1 OCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
5 m8 f$ u1 u8 i* V9 J" A3 g. wUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
5 j. }7 Y h/ s3 o- M& Z1 y% ~( e" D' W2 s v& d- s
; x4 h- k. S ABy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
, G9 U+ k& z9 z2 w) }
! n$ X2 r9 r; U S. X# F * `7 ?! R& G2 ^( N
More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. 8 {, i% t7 R* X9 I2 Q
* ]- U1 C0 k+ B+ K/ F5 J
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.
# G: ~. P3 N" e1 J! x/ q8 f2 L' `7 M* g- K
Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
g& J6 K5 Q `
; [- Q d4 m4 y6 X$ U1 mThe 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 $209 per sq. ft. / X4 L/ }( q' s$ I
& ]; w8 c/ S( W4 oGeorge 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. , @% p* g' ?, K- Y) K
" V& t' `* v9 B+ b+ n; }, A“To live downtown people pay for it.”
- d( f3 R8 W8 i; D/ } }. ^3 o7 @/ ~9 X# i6 G
A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. 1 {6 y7 Q6 r P# O- C
2 ?' G+ w) v# ], B% M7 g& m: `% C! J' N
Still Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.” ; x8 c" o8 |8 ~6 F& e- C
& y% o- z# O) l4 J O( d! l) V# S1 I
Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
* W% o# D8 g, a$ ?
1 m4 m8 V5 e) d. y( ?“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said.
- P6 E7 _1 i- [0 Q, L7 ~1 n: o2 M
9 m6 T2 U: H6 W) D* @He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. : }$ l# Y$ w( {& O* a
# z- x2 Q1 G3 C4 `# L0 J- E) ~! pThe survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. # T3 M+ W( @) k7 |( i9 @
7 p! C0 Q& L: M, n; S0 BIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
5 Z1 Q! g/ s0 \4 A$ |( ?" K) a) N6 D# E# P
While those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 3 Y) D5 l2 T# w( i) d) ^- H6 _/ F
/ {6 H O' E8 l8 EA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
/ f* A8 q( l1 [$ Q( V
7 Z( q! y9 E* C1 P' t; P6 ?FAST FAX & T4 m1 J; a: F; i2 p
0 ~, q; N3 U7 j. y9 o$ l
- 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.
' m4 G! c- H/ O/ O2 z
0 H# g) V0 S" \! z+ w— 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 $119 # q5 ]* ~& t9 Q$ I& v
' B8 o6 T6 X+ u. `
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. |
|