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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing: Z/ e+ K o; u" c) V& v, k# v
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST, y# h/ \$ g% J
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; F% u# y% ~# e/ b' XMore 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. ! v: [, p) _1 K- D; C/ B* ?
: W2 ?$ x1 R1 U; N, vCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. ! Y1 x |4 [8 g5 A1 v
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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 $209 per sq. ft. * x$ [4 L! l7 W2 f# i3 {2 r3 s
6 l; i" x* J6 ?: xGeorge 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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, I6 J. m$ b& N* w4 e“To live downtown people pay for it.” , p& i$ @+ f6 x! W9 L8 t
/ B. e% } D) R0 `" yA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. + N2 v* Z+ Z$ a: O' P3 f( x
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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.” 4 K# A$ `6 Y8 k
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Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. - L: v) u4 ]! D8 `8 W
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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. + ^- @* Q. N/ j
0 v9 @# j+ t! m7 K) _. n8 z' n6 UHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. 5 S8 G+ m: b8 W! o: H6 U7 v
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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.
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3 u& l5 m# S% `% O( c5 EIn Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
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$ K9 V) }; D7 [% ] FWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 5 o% _9 p& K7 f* R
- {4 W" z& {4 Z) |/ W$ wA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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% H1 d" ^/ ~, u0 ^; v0 I* u- 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. ! I6 \3 Q! t1 }; d7 K
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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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: m9 e. Y1 ]/ R: JThe 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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