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Thu, April 12, 20073 q+ H. N, M* d, x# T
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing1 G* Y1 b# V+ u; g
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA: m ^; I! Y1 G7 \, r$ H
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. - m+ ^1 A; n# ?6 |
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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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) U8 U% c G6 h! P3 ACalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. " s% d: u4 P& ^+ L+ U2 v! q* X
3 e. K5 f" b( D8 wThe 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. ' l1 k: F9 K; k8 i/ C; a, v: M8 L
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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. 7 ?# Q; W, ?4 X' R
1 b9 c; B4 k4 q( u3 f0 I* K“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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1 ~7 M& }, N' nA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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: V8 v. g$ Q5 |8 C. wStill 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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% Y2 E }/ \3 B4 QPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. ! y- W2 G: M3 L" Q% q3 K& ~, A
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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. 9 p1 @# @3 f1 j
# s' q" z: I' Q) MHe 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. ' W2 r8 y" k( h* c, T! o
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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. a! [# [* R# M! v; s
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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.
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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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Y, J u# w6 Y% b7 E— 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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