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Thu, April 12, 2007- |8 Y7 r( \- x& W* |* l
* Y" I8 ?' y# L! B+ pCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing2 a( {2 r1 A+ z+ \
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST0 E* L/ q2 `# j& p! C
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) x& K. I4 y, z" z( _: f4 PMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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3 d& ?' [$ E6 k; ]; LPeople 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. . M+ {, `4 o8 O ^6 _% c* [
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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. 9 X- O7 ?+ e: t5 {3 g+ q( K
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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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“To live downtown people pay for it.” ! L6 a' `+ J' y. {% g
0 B" y5 d& o" s# l0 \A condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. ) R* {- k r$ V% x
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* C% I3 U1 l7 DStill 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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" [" r: _, {) Z8 j' E, H/ V4 C7 X+ ]& mPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. $ c" E& T3 i8 [; S, I7 T
( D, k4 i' o9 z3 C2 l g7 ?: 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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" E+ |; b* g+ f+ \. K5 @/ S1 _He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. # d0 }1 c h( E. D1 O! D4 F8 u
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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. 7 b8 y+ \. k' h1 Q+ q
9 w( n# T, j) PIn 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. - h9 M9 A7 G) H1 C
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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. $ u- n2 N6 z, D5 r* O9 Y" H
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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. 0 V2 e% j- r# B7 f
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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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