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Thu, April 12, 2007
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, {' l! u# [' z) m, C/ l" `2 HCalgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing
7 V5 o0 m0 s2 j) x7 B, YUPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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- q$ n' m$ g9 r- Y8 V. uBy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA
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+ q5 K& C7 l2 c/ SMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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5 d% }5 t5 \& a3 [& g: ?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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1 M* S0 f" M. v* W% y' d7 ~6 R) ICalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world.
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" K9 F5 Z9 g* x" x: KThe 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 $209 per sq. ft. 0 Q! I% w1 N' D; d
; `( |, `8 H$ }5 j$ W$ I- T8 tGeorge 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.” ' R- @' d+ z; }, r
1 w2 k) n3 U" g1 N' _7 i4 S/ HA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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/ N, \! m' G% `, e! L" |! N2 x9 {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. + a7 O- K: a" C
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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. 1 @( P! z( F9 [2 n. Q
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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.
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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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7 k0 [& O0 `/ Z7 |( P# N: ZWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings. 3 e, b, Y3 N0 T- [5 h
6 k4 F3 o5 q: {: c6 h7 e( FA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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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.
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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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